Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained
by Kerilu95
Summary: What happens if Lucy realizes that she loves Natsu, but fears that the object of her affections might love somebody else? What will happen on her quest to find the truth? Is it a good idea to involve Natsu? What dangers will she face, and what resolve will Lucy come too? They say a little 'friendly rivalry' can go a long way! (Eventual NaLu, people!) CHAPTER 11 IS UP! Please R
1. Intro

_**Fairy Tail  
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained**_

**Summary:** Lucy woke up 3 a.m. in the morning, confused about her feelings. Determined, she goes on with Natsu on a mission to figure out her heart as well as too pay her rent. Will Lucy find the answers she seeks? And what will Lisanna, the object of Lucy's distress, have to say about this?

**Disclaimer:** I'm sure that we all know by now that Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail, and not I.

**A/N:** Thank you so much for coming over to read my story! Basically it's a humor/ romance with adventure and action featuring Lucy and Natsu. Throw Lisanna into the mix and there you go! But don't worry, NaLu is the main pairing. My update schedule is on my profile, but depending on the reviews I may update sooner ;) Chapter 1; It begins, AYE!, will be posted up along with this Intro.

**ENJOY!**

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_Arc 1: Flaming Fists._

_Chapter 1: Intro_

"_Natsu…" a voice called, it was barely a whisper. Lucy slowly opened her eyes. She blinked a few times until her vision became focused, but still Lucy could only see a dense fog surrounding her._

"_Natsu" the voice called again, only this time did Lucy recognize the voice. She thought it was her own. She looked around for the one she was calling until she found his shadowed silhouette. She could only see the frame of his body and his spiky hair. She reached towards him, but couldn't reach him._

"_Natsu!" Lucy could hear the familiar voice calling Natsu more urgently this time. But Lucy only opened her mouth, so how could she have called him? That was when she saw something white rush past her._

_The figure who rushed past her jumped into Natsu's arms, which he held open. The fog was blown away when they made contact. Lucy could now clearly see who was in front of her. It was Natsu hugging…Lisanna?_

"_Oh Natsu…" she said, and Lucy noticed that the voice who had been calling Natsu was not her own, but Lisanna's. Natsu folded his arms around her waist and Lisanna buried her face in the crook of his neck, her arms around it. After a moment they broke of their embrace and were slowly closing the distance between them._

_Lucy felt the sudden urge to go over to them. She had to stop them. But when she tried to move, she was rooted in place. When she looked down she saw that she was tied with a thorn whip into turtle-shell bondage. Lucy fell to her knees helplessly. _

'_I don't understand how I could just let them be together. Would I truly be happy handing Lisanna over to Natsu? Is that my true feelings? But why am I crying then?' She thought as a tear slid down her cheek. _

_Natsu and Lisanna moved away together, hand-in-hand, and suddenly Lucy felt new power within her. She let loose an emotional cry and the thorn whip tore in a brilliant flash of light. Lucy was free and she launched herself at the retreating couple…_

"NO!" Lucy shouted as she sat upright in her bed, the whole bed shook from the sudden motion. Lucy breathed heavily; her hand still stretched out before her. When she noticed this, she retracted her hand and closed her palm over her chest. Her heart was beating fast and her palms were sweaty.

When she looked to her side her eyes fell on her alarm. It was 03:00 a.m. She swung her legs over the edge of her bed and switched on her bedside lamp. She grabbed the notepad and quill pen lying on the table and began to write feverishly.

'What was up with that dream? Why did it shake me up so much? O, that's right, it was because Lisanna was in it. Why am I dreaming of Lisanna and Natsu being together, and me who can't do anything about it? Am I concerned that Natsu will leave me? It shouldn't bother me in the least, in fact, I should be overjoyed that he's happy, so why…'

A loud snore from next to Lucy interrupted her thought train and nearly caused her heart to leap out of her chest. 'Why did the one giving me so much trouble have to be next to me, RIGHT NOW?' Lucy wanted to scream out in frustration. She couldn't figure her feelings out if the one who confused her was right next to her, unless…

Maybe this could be the exact opportunity Lucy needed to find out if she was truly the one for Natsu!

"NATSU, WAKE UP!" Lucy called and pulled the duvet off of the snoring dragon. Lucy hoped that the sudden cold would awaken him, but Natsu only increased his body temperature when he felt the outside temperature drop. Lucy face palmed and cursed for forgetting that 'the cold' was a non-existent factor to him.

Lucy caught a whiff of something burning and saw that Natsu had increased his temperature to such a point where he started to burn up the sheets on her bed. If Lucy didn't act quickly, the whole apartment building would burn down and Lucy would have more debt than she could pay off in her entire lifetime.

"Open, Gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus!" Lucy called, using her key to open the gate to her celestial spirit. Taurus appeared, posing valiantly with a "MOO!" before noticing his master.

"Wow Lucy, your boody looks ravishing as always. I just want to…" Taurus started but received a high five in the face courtesy of Lucy's foot.

"Enough! Do you not realize our current predicament? You see that flame idiot right there? We need to wake him up right now before he sets the entire building on fire!" Lucy said, wagging her golden key at Taurus.

"And how doo we do that?" Taurus asked dropping his shoulders.

"You really are all muscle and no brains, aren't you?" Lucy said with a sigh. "Just over turn the mattress, that should work." she suggested.

"MOO! Leave it to me, nice body-sama!" Taurus said as he overturned the mattress. Natsu hit the floor with a loud thump and Lucy could hear a muffled 'ouch', which only sounded like'oomph'.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Natsu shouted as he poked his head from underneath the mattress, ready to breathe fire at the drop of a hat. He had learned to not just randomly set things on fire in Lucy's house, when he's awake at least.

"Thank you Taurus, you can leave now." Lucy said waving her spirit away.

"Aw but Lucy, I wanted too…" Taurus wanted to protest but he was already disappearing. "MOO?!" was the last thing he exclaimed before completely being sent back to the Celestial World.

"Forced Gate Closure" Lucy said while putting Taurus' key away.

"Oi, Lucy?" Natsu said as he wriggled his way out from underneath the mattress. Lucy's heart went doki-doki when he called her name. She looked at him and saw him rubbing his one eye and giving her a questioning look. "What time is it? What's going on?" he asked. Lucy was so distracted by the fact that a sleepy Natsu with a bed head looked so much like an innocent schoolboy that it took a while for her to realize that Natsu asked her a question. She composed herself and cleared her throat before making her announcement.

"It's 3 a.m. now, and we're going on a mission."

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**A/N: **Thank you for reading all the way up to the end! Sorry to leave you hanging, but the next chapter should be up now (or at least really soon) so go ahead and read it too! SO what do you think? :)? :(? or :|? I'd love to hear your thoughts because there's always room for improvement.  
_To be continued in Chapter 2: It begins, AYE! _


	2. It begins, AYE!

**Disclaimer:** I'm sure that we all know by now that Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail, and not I.

**A/N: **Here it is; the next chapter of Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained. Funny how you start out with a blank document and it turns into something like this.

**ENJOY!**

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_Chapter 2: It begins, AYE!_

"Huh? You want to go on a mission?" Natsu asked, still sleepy. "But it's still bed time!" Natsu wined and plopped himself down on Lucy's overturned mattress. Lucy was taken aback; she didn't know that getting Natsu to leave would be this difficult. And what surprised her more was that Natsu preferred sleeping over a fight, though Lucy could understand that since it was the small hours of the morning. "Come to sleep Lucy, it would help for your craziness". Natsu said yawning. Lucy stubbornly refused.

"Natsu, if we go now we could take the best quest out of all those new ones that came in last night for us" Lucy reasoned.

"But the guild's closed right now…" Natsu said with his eyes closed. Lucy pouted and saw that Natsu has left himself wide open to her. Lucy walked over to him and in one swift moment, grabbed Natsu's scarf. His eyes shot open and he jerked upright. "Lucy?" he asked, confused.

"What I'm about to do may be childish Natsu and I'm sorry, but please bear with me." Lucy apologized in advance. Natsu's head titled to the side and in the next moment Lucy bolted out of the door. Natsu was stunned for a moment and he couldn't move, until he heard a voice from bellow. "Natsu!" the voice called. Natsu looked out the window and saw that Lucy was standing at the bank of the river, holding Natsu's scarf over it. The water was raging thanks to the big storm of the previous day. Natsu's eyes widened at the thought of his precious scarf being swept away by the current and he jumped out of the window.

"Lucy, don't you even think about it!" Natsu called as he soared through the sky. He was almost on top of Lucy when she made a b-line for Downtown Magnolia. Natsu chased after her.

For a good portion of the hour the two participated in a fiery game of tag, running up and down the streets of Magnolia, Natsu's fire leaving skid marks everywhere he ran. Lucy was surprised that the whole town didn't awaken form the ruckus. After a while she stopped and looked behind her only to see that Natsu was still in his maximum gear, heading at full velocity towards Lucy. She merely side-stepped out of the way and Natsu crashed face-first into the wall-fence surrounding the guild.

"Geez, Natsu, watch where you're going." Lucy tsk'ed and shook her head, dropping Natsu's scarf on his face. "And did you seriously think that I would let anything happen to your scarf?" Lucy asked and bent down to look at Natsu's face. His eyes were all swirly. "Well it doesn't matter since we're at the guild now anyway" Lucy said and used Natsu's scarf to drag him onto the guild's property.

Lucy showed the surveillance lacrima at the door and gained immediate access into the guild hall, and dragged a half-dead Natsu along all the way. The guild hall was still a mess from the previous night's party, though it ended abruptly thanks to a surprise visit from the magic council. Fairy Tail would've kept partying if it wasn't for Gramps who, quite literally, chased everyone out. Why though, Lucy had no idea.

She went over to the request board and hummed as she scanned all of the missions.

"80 000 jewel, 120 000 jewel, 300 000 jewel…ah! This one has a reward of 600 000 jewel!" Lucy exclaimed. "Late night perverts causing fear among the residential woman, huh? Sounds like a lot of _bad guys_" Lucy deducted from the flier, putting special emphases on the bad-guy part. Lucy started a mental countdown from 3 and back. '3…2…'

"BAD GUYS?! Where?!" Natsu shouted bolting upright; his fists alight with fire already. 'And 1' Lucy thought. This was her chance.

"Oh Natsu, you made your miraculous recovery just in time! Look here, this is the mission which offers the highest reward. Since the reward is so handsome, our opponents must be pretty strong too! Are we really going to give the opportunity to fight these strong opponents to somebody else? " Lucy persuaded Natsu. The more Natsu thought about how certain people would brag if they got such a giant reward, the more fired up he became.

"Hell no! I'm not going to let Gray or Elfman or anyone else take this. Let's go Lucy!" Natsu said and headed for the door.

"Hold on Natsu! I just want to leave a note for Mirajane to tell her where we're going." Lucy said and scribbled something on a piece of paper, sliding it underneath one of the bottles on the bar. She ran out of the guild hall straight to where Natsu was running in place.

"Come on Lucy, we're wasting sunlight!" Natsu said impatiently.

"Natsu, its 'burning daylight', and the sun is not even out yet! We won't find any transportation this time of night, so where are you planning on going in such a rush?" Lucy pointed out. Natsu stopped moving and a look of realization dawned on his face. 'Did he seriously only think about that small detail now?' Lucy wondered, almost face-palming.

"So do we have to wait for the first train? But that's going to take forever!" Natsu complained.

"I know, but the earliest train departures in the next town over, so I'm…" Lucy began but was interrupted by Natsu, pulling her arm.

"Well then let's go, we can run over there!" Natsu said while jogging, pulling Lucy along. Lucy pulled her arm back and knocked Natsu upside the head.

"NO, you idiot! It's at least 100 miles to the next town!" Lucy said angrily. "And you didn't let me finish." Lucy pulled out a silver key, a new one she obtained from the last mission she went on. "Open, Gate of the Travelling Bird, Icarus!" Lucy called and a helmet and goggle wearing duck appeared. The carriage had two seats on it and all of Lucy and Natsu's baggage, courtesy of Virgo. It was tied around the duck's

waist. He held a folded up map and quill pen in his wings and looked at Natsu and Lucy with a complete poker face.

Natsu couldn't stop rolling around on the pavement and clutching his stomach. He was laughing for the past five minutes. The duck wanted to scowl at Natsu, but he couldn't because his face was set in an eternal poker face due to his failure to fly.

Irritated, Lucy threw the incapacitated dragon over the one seat of the carriage and climbed on the other one. With an angry "Hiya!" they were off and Natsu became completely immobile. Lucy road them through the forest, Natsu feeling completely nauseated the entire trip.

"Everyone!" Happy shouted as he flew into the guild. "It's terrible!" he said and the whole guild went quiet and waited for the talking cat to humor them."Natsu and Lucy, they're gone!" Happy wailed.

Suddenly the whole guild burst into the hysterics. Questions were thrown left and right.

"How could Natsu leave without Happy?" Carla asked.

"I hope that they are not in trouble!" Wendy said concerned.

"Masters' going to punish them again, just like the time they left for Galuna Island" Cana said through her drunken slur while laughing.

"But none of the S-class quests are missing!" Levy called down from the second floor.

"That bastard's gonna get himself killed." Gajeel pointed out. Next to him Gray stood and nodded.

"That damn slanty eyes, what's he thinking?" Gray shared Gajeel's sentiment.

"A man doesn't leave his cat behind!" Elfman declared from where he stood on one of the tables. The table broke under his weight and Elfman crashed into Gajeel and Gray.

"Dumbass, you wanna fight?" a now half-naked Gray said and punched Elfman through the face, sending him flying and crashing into many of the other guild members and caused them to scatter as if they were bowling pins. And so another one of Fairy Tail's casual brawls broke out.

Happy looked despondent. Erza was away on a mission so she couldn't stop everyone from fighting. That's when Happy remembered of the other powerful mage who would be able to stop them. He looked over to where Mirajane was playing with a note between her fingers.

Happy went over and was surprised to see that Mirajane had the creepiest grin and her eyes were glazed over in sparkles. She had a weird aura of bright blooming sakuras. In a word, she was insanely happy. She must be fantasizing about something.

Happy looked at the note between her fingers. On the piece of paper the words which weren't covered up by Mira's fingers read _'We have left…'_

"They have eloped!" Happy shouted, having completely jumped to the wrong conclusion. "Mira has a note, it says…it says…WAH!" he went into a full blown wail again. The whole guild froze mid-brawl, before hysterics broke out again. More questions arose about abandonment, marriage and little dragons named Lucy.

Lisanna glared at Happy, he only shrunk under the heat of her gaze. Happy putted a paw over his mouth. He had forgotten that Lisanna liked Natsu too, and saying something like he had eloped with another woman was probably a bad idea. Lisanna tore her gaze from Happy and looked at her big sister.

"Mira-nee, why didn't you tell us you have a note? Is that really all it says?" Lisanna asked her older sister.

"Oh I couldn't be bothered, I'm too engrossed in my world of NaLu fantasies" Mira said half-dazed. Lisanna felt a pang in her heart. 'NaLu fantasies? What the hell was that?' Lisanna wanted to know but a deep voice boomed through the hall and caused everyone to go quiet again.

"Be quiet you shitty brats!" Gramps Makarov called form where he stood at the top of the stairs. "Those two idiots didn't elope. I just finished informing a client that they have accepted a request and was on their way to meet the client right now." He began and hushed questions about 'the mission' broke out from underneath the guild members.

"Stop your buzzing, you bees and let me finish!" Makarov called as he held up his hand and everyone quieted down. "It was a quest they took when they broke into the guild this morning at around 4 a.m." Gramps continued.

He stepped down from his post and glided his eyes over his guild members once more. "Once they get back they will be interrogated under the Giants Wrath, so until then, stop this senseless fighting and questioning or I'll give each one of a you a good ol' spanking!" he finished and retreated to his office

Makarov's warning fell on deaf ears because as soon as the guild members heard the door of his office slam shut, hysterics broke out again. Claims of disbelief and awe were heard at every turn. Happy was completely bowled over, until a fish was placed in front of him. He brightened up and saw Mira's still gleeful face.

"Ne, Mira? If they left at 4 a.m. that must mean that they were too early to catch a train, right?" Happy asked and started to nibble on his fish.

"Hm? That's right Happy. The earliest train leaves in the next town over." Mira said and looked over her shoulder at the clock on the wall. It said 7:00 a.m. "The first train leaves at 8 a.m." she informed. Happy stood up immediately and put the fish in his green backpack and fastened it.

"I'm going to go over there and try to catch them. If they're going on a mission, I'm going to join them. I'm a member of Team Natsu too, don't you forget!" Happy said seriously and shot out of the guild at his max speed. Mira coughed and waved away the smoke which Happy caused when he took off.

"Mira-nee, I'm also going out!" Lisanna said as she put a request flier down on the counter. With her backpack over her shoulder, Lisanna ran off and flashed a confident smile at her older sister. Mira,

confused, looked at the flier and saw that the location was exactly the same as where Natsu and Lucy were headed. The She-Devil grinned evilly, things had gotten interesting.

"Take care, and good luck!" Mirajane called after Lisanna with a wave.

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**A/N: **Thank you for making it all the way up to here! I'd love to hear your opinion and/or suggestions, whether it's :), :| or :( (^.^)/  
_To be continued in Chapter 3: Third Time's the Charm!_


	3. Third Time's The Charm

**A/N: **Here you go, freshly inked onto this document the 2nd chapter of Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained. This is my longest chapter so far, but please enjoy and leave me a :), :| or a :( at the end. Thanks!

**Disclaimer: **I do not, have not and will never (probably) own Fairy Tail. It's Hiro Mashima's!

**ENJOY!**

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Chapter 3: Third time's the Charm

Lucy gave a tired sigh as she made her way through the forest, both from mental exhaustion and physical strain. The only things that kept her awake were the birds' who constantly chirped and the snores of the sleeping dragon-slayer behind her. Lucy looked over her shoulder and recalled what happened about halfway through the trip.

While they were riding through an uphill and heavily overgrown path, Lucy had to be sharp to dodge all the incoming branches that stretched out over it. However, Natsu's reflexes in his immobile state was…yeah…he didn't have any, so consequently he was hit in the head by at least 10 consecutive branches, got really tangled up in a spider web once and fell of Icarus three times. Eventually he rolled over in agonizing pain and passed out, which led to a relative quiet trip for Lucy the rest of the way.

While smiling contentedly Lucy saw a bright light at the end of the forest. She exited the forest and brought Icarus to a standstill at the top of the hill. She gazed down and saw that the sun had just started to peak its head over the sea, casting a warm glow over the port town and lit it up in an almost ethereal glow.

She rode down the hill and stopped at the entrance of the town.

"Thanks a lot for your hard work, Icarus-chi!" Lucy said gratefully as she scratched the duck under his bill. "Now go and take a good rest" the duck nodded and saluted Lucy with his wing before he disappeared.

Natsu, who was still on the duck's back, fell to the ground. The impact startled him awake. He blinked a few times, dazed, before he noticed that they were no longer moving.

"Alright, we've stopped!" Natsu called excitedly as he jumped up. He breathed fire just to show that he was completely revived. Lucy had to hold out her arms in front of her body to block out some of the sudden heat.

"Geez Natsu, I'm glad you're okay but flame down, would you?!" Lucy said and Natsu complied.

"Where are we?" Natsu asked as he looked around like they were lost.

"We've reached our destination; Freesia Town, the town of eternal spring!" Lucy explained excitedly.

They entered the port town and saw that quaint little white house's lined the cobbled streets. Each of these houses had their own large doorstep and pictures of flowers were carved into the walls. Patches of the pink, blue and yellow freesias were spread everywhere between the houses.

"Wow, so many flowers!" Natsu called amazed and he took a whiff from the air. "They smell so sweet" Natsu said as he scrunched his nose in disgust.

"Just don't burn them all down!" Lucy said with a laugh. 'This is nice.' Lucy thought to herself as the two moved through the residential part of town. 'Although we always spend time together on missions, we don't spend time together like this. It's always only arrive, find the bad guy, beat up the bad guy and get the reward. End of story. This time, I'm going to enjoy myself'. They reached the trading district, which was basically a glorified flea market. 'This is my chance!' she thought.

"Natsu, there is still a half hour before the next train leaves, so let's look around, shall we?" Lucy asked, linking her arm in with Natsu's. It didn't seem to bother him though.

"Sure, let's do it Luce!" Natsu agreed immediately. Lucy smiled at him and they went to take a look at all the street stalls. The street stalls all traded in many different things. Some sold potted Freesia plants; others sold the perfumes that Freesia was famous for. Lucy probably spent 15 minutes going through all the perfumes. There were interesting combinations of fragrances, such as coconut with lime and pumpkin with orange. Natsu in the meantime got hungry and cleaned out all of the takoyaki stall's free 'still flaming' samples. When Lucy finished picking out the perfume she wanted, Natsu returned.

"You like it, Luce?" he asked, looking at the perfume bottle in her hand. She nodded dreamily, not registering what Natsu had just asked her.

"Then we'll take it" Natsu said and fished out a few jewels from his pants pocket.

"That's wonderful, sir!" the merchant, a big woman with glasses, said eagerly. "Since you are my first customers for the day, I will give you my Early-bird special; the most exquisite perfume in all of Fiore yours now for only 20 000 jewel!"

"WHAT?! That's too expensive" Lucy called flabbergasted, snapping back to reality. She saw Natsu handing the woman the jewels and taking the bottle from the woman. Natsu turned to Lucy with a grin and held her the bottle. "Eh, Natsu?" Lucy asked confused, not taking the bottle. Natsu pouted at her. "Don't look at me like that!" she demanded and added 'it's making me weak in the knees' as an afterthought. "I normally have to stick you for everything so how could you afford something like this?!" she wanted to know.

"What's the big deal?" he raised an eyebrow at her. "An old man gave me the money as a reward for when I beat the crap out of a dirty thief who tried to steal some his pollen clay" (magical clay that can be molded into any seed to create any flower).He explained, clearly bored. "Besides, when I reached the flower bake tart stall at the corner I smelled something really nice. I came over her and saw that it was the perfume you had in your hand. And since I liked it too, I'd thought I'd get it for you." He finished and deeply inhaled. He wasn't used to giving such long explanations, but this was Lucy.

"You're such an idiot…" Lucy said taking the bottle. "But thanks a lot!" she smiled up at Natsu, the kind that tugs at your lips which you can't resist but copying. Natsu smiled back and felt all warm inside, but he reckoned it to be the burn from all the free samples he just had.

'_Ding Dong, Ding Dong'_ an intercom sounded overhead. Lucy and Natsu looked around for the source and found it to be the speakers that were tied to the top of a long wooden pole. _'The 8'o clock train is now boarding.' _

"Oh no!" Lucy exclaimed as she comprehended what the voice on the intercom had just said. She grabbed Natsu's hand and rushed towards the train station.

"What's wrong Lucy? You need the toilet?" Natsu asked, raising an eyebrow. Lucy wanted to stop and smack him, but there was no time.

"Of course I don't, you idiot! We're going to miss the train…!" she shouted, shifting into high gear.

* * *

He was flying at his max speed, so Happy had to brake when he saw the little dot of a village beneath him. 'Phew' he thought as he stopped. 'I almost flew over!' He descended a little and the village became bigger and bigger. 'Now I have to find Natsu and Lucy. I wonder where they could be.'

He circled the lighthouse of the harbor before flying just above the roofs of the houses, looking for salmon and blonde hair. When he spotted it, Happy saw that the couple was making a b-line for the train station.

"Oi Natsu, Lucy, wait!" Happy called in distress. 'They can't leave without me!' he yelled inside his head . Determined, he activated his max speed again. The burst of magic propelled him one feet forward before he stopped again; the magic power that he released was only a wheeze. 'This is bad!' Happy thought, 'I used too much of my magic power! What should I do?' He tried his best to fly as fast as he could; even if it looked like he was in a drunken stupor, swaying tiredly from side to side.

He seemed to have caught up with them, but they were standing while the train was…leaving?

* * *

"We missed it, too bad!" Natsu laughed and waved as the train left him and Lucy in its dust. He was happy that he wouldn't have to endure becoming motion sick again so soon.

"We're late…" Lucy said with frustrated sigh and rubbed her temples.

"Don't sweat it Luce, we can catch the next train." Natsu tried to cheer her up. Lucy stopped rubbing her temples and looked at him.

"Yeah, we'll have too, although our client is expecting us to be there early" Lucy pointed out. Natsu considered that fact for a moment before he shrugged.

"The bad guys won't be going anywhere Luce; you'll still get your chance to kick their butts." Natsu grinned.

"Since when am I concerned about something like that?! If we're late, the client could…" Lucy started but was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"LUCY! NATSU!" it called. They both turned around and saw a talking blue cat flying towards them. He struggled against the wind caused by the train's departure.

"Happy?" Lucy and Natsu asked together, both surprised when he came to a stop in front of them. Natsu wanted to fist pump Happy but the cat only swatted it away with his paw.

"Geez Natsu! I can't believe you would go on a mission without me!" Happy said, trying his best to look angry but failing miserably, only looking like a cat that can't get his fish.

"I'm sorry, partner! But be mad at Lucy, she's the one that dragged me out of bed at 3 a.m. to go on a mission" Natsu defended himself. Happy glared at Lucy, Lucy gulped.

"I'm sorry too, Happy. But hey I…" Lucy began but was interrupted by the sound of growling. 'Is that a lion?' Lucy thought, looking around until her eyes landed in the only feline in the proximity. "Happy?" she asked. Happy laughed, embarrassed.

"Well, since I found that I was alone, I went to the guild where Mirajane told me that you guys had come here for the first train which would leave at 8. It was seven o' clock then so I flew straight here at Max Speed, only stopping once to eat my takeaway fish from breakfast. I think I used too much of my energy after my snack and now I'm hungry, and tired" Happy said, falling onto Natsu's head. Lucy only gaped at him.

"You flew here at maximum power for over an hour?" she asked, not believing what the cat had just told her. Happy just nodded.

"As expected from my partner, that's amazing Happy!" Natsu said pleased, patting Happy on the head. "Hey Luce, do you think we can get something to chow before we leave on the next train?" he asked, still rubbing Happy's head. Happy purred softly. Lucy looked at the schedule of train departures on a nearby lacrima-board and saw that the next train would leave at 08:30 a.m.

"We have half an hour." Lucy said while sighing. Natsu and Happy cheered and ran into the nearest café. Lucy shook her head and followed.

"When she entered the café, she saw that Natsu and Happy had already cleaned out one entire course of food. 'That's right,' Lucy remembered 'Natsu hasn't eaten anything when we left this morning, and then he only had some takoyaki samples earlier…" Lucy heard another growl, but this time from her own stomach.

"Come on Lucy, come eat some too; it's an all-you-can-eat buffet!" Natsu said with a chicken breast in his mouth. Lucy narrowed her eyes.

"It's not an all-you-can-eat buffet; it's just that you idiots eat as much as you can from everything on the menu!" Lucy corrected him.

"Lucy's hungggrrrrry" Happy sang teasingly, salmon in hand.

"Shut up! And stop rolling your tong like that!" Lucy said and blushed as she went to sit next to Natsu. She took a slice of angelica flower and fish pizza.

When they were finished after what felt for Lucy like a too-long time, Lucy paid their overly high bill and left.

"This is coming out of your part of the reward." Lucy reminded Natsu.

"Ah but Lucy…can't it be your treat? It's kinda your fault since you're the one forgot about Happy." Lucy stopped mid-stride and turned to face Natsu.

"What about you, you also forgot about him!" Lucy said.

"It was three o'clock in the morning; I wasn't even sure what boxers I had on then!" Natsu argued. Lucy only sighed.

"I'll tell you what." Lucy said as she looked over to where Happy was trailing them from a few steps away. "You pay for both you and Happy, to make up for the fact that you also forgot about him. Then I will buy a treat for him as an apology. That should make us even." Lucy bargained.

Natsu thought about it for a moment and shrugged. He supposed that if he used half of his part of the reward, it was fine. He could use the rest of it to buy a flamethrower for an anytime, anywhere snack of fire! Lucy took his silence as affirmative and went over to Happy.

"Hey Happy, we're really sorry about this morning, and we'd like to make it up to you. So Natsu's going to pay for your food, and I will buy you a treat." Lucy said as she tickled Happy under his chin. Happy giggled a bit before replying.

"Sure Lucy, but do you even know what to get me or should I pick?" he asked wide-eyed. Lucy tapped her chin a few times before deciding.

"I actually have the coolest little gift to give to you." Lucy informed him of a stall that sold the weirdest little toys and trinkets. Happy reminded Lucy that he couldn't eat toys, but she insisted that the cat can trust her. Natsu followed after them taking a few food samples from every stall as they passed.

"Here it is! It's called Lacrima Toys" Lucy read of the sign. Happy stared in awe as the magic danced around in and around the toys. Lucy looked around until she saw what she was looking for. "Ah, here it is!" Lucy said as she took a small, flat cylinder-shaped tin can with a picture of a fish on it. "Here, Happy, take a look at this!" Lucy said and handed the tin to Happy.

"Tuna?!" Happy asked excitedly. When he touched the top, it shot open and a small tuna fish attached to a spiral wire sprung out. "It's stuffed." Happy said factually as his look of pure glee turned into utter disappointment in 0.053 seconds. Lucy tried her best to not laugh out loud, her shoulders shaking. "That's mean!" Happy whined. Natsu came over to see what the ruckus was about.

"What's wrong Happy?" Natsu asked. Happy wailed and hugged Natsu's shin, repeatedly claiming that Lucy picked on him. Lucy calmed down and went over to Happy.

"Sorry Happy, I was just playing with you!" Lucy apologized; Happy only glanced at her from behind Natsu's leg. "Alright, seriously, this is what I truly had in mind for you." Lucy said and walked over to the merchant. After a quick exchange with a little feminine charm added to it, Lucy brought back a fishing pole.

"What is it?" Happy asked, poking his head out from around Natsu's leg.

"This," Lucy began proudly, "Is a Lacrima-tech fishing pole. It has a surveillance lacrima attached to the hook that sends a video feed from what is happening under water to the little globe atop the handle. That way, you can see when a fish bites and also observe where the other school fishes are swimming around in the lake so you can see where the best place to fish is." Lucy finished explaining. Happy was truly happy. His eyes began to sparkle and he attacked Lucy, hugging her chest.

"I forgive you for forgetting about me!" Happy said while crying tears of joy. He went over and showed off the pole to Natsu.

"That's great Happy! Now we'll surely catch those fish, right?" Natsu said excitedly, inspecting the pole from every angle "But, when did you see this, Lucy?" he asked, probing the camera.

"Oh I saw it when we passed it running to the train…station…OH CRAP!" Lucy interrupted herself and grabbed Natsu's hand (again) and Happy's tail, rushing towards the train station. They stormed through the streets, zigzagging through all the early morning shoppers.

When they reached the train station, the 8:30 o'clock train was already leaving, leaving Natsu, Lucy and Happy in its dust once more. When the train disappeared out of sight, Lucy began to slightly tremble.

"_Thank you and have a safe trip. Do not leave any baggage unattended as it will be used for magic fertilizer. The next departure will be at 9 o'clock."_ The intercom sounded overhead.

"Lucy's slightly trembling; do you think she has a fever, Natsu?" Happy whispered the question into Natsu's ear. Natsu looked at Lucy for a moment before he nodded.

"Yeah, her temperature is so high I think she might flame up at any moment, look at how she's steaming!" Natsu replied softly, but not soft enough, for in that next moment Lucy spun around and glared at both of them.

"How about I use the both of you for magic fertilizer?" she threatened and clenched her fists

"Hey so uh…lets go and grab something to chow on while we wait" Natsu suggested awkwardly and took a few steps back.

"Aye sir!" Happy said and they both bolted for the station's exit, but they were too slow, for in the next moment Lucy had them both by their collar, holding them in place.

"I'm sorry guys, but you're not going anywhere" Lucy said as she made them sit down next on a nearby bench. "I'm kind of frustrated now and I don't want to miss the next train, so please bear with me" Lucy said, looking somewhat apologetic at least.

They sat there for the next half hour waiting for the train. Lucy eventually let Natsu and Happy roam about a bit after they constantly nagged her of being bored. It wasn't until they were seated on the 09:00 o' clock train that Lucy relaxed.

"Finally safe" she mumbled softly to herself. As soon as the train started to move, Natsu got sick so Lucy offered him her lap as a cushion. Natsu gratefully accepted it and after a while he got better. Lucy looked out of the window and wondered why even though she was safely inside the train, she felt like she had stepped into a whole new world of danger…

* * *

"_The 9:30 a.m. train is now departing, please enjoy the ride." _The intercom sounded as Lisanna took her seat on the Freesia Train headed towards Akai Tsuki Town. She had missed Natsu, and it's all because of that ridiculous merchant who kept trying to sell her random Lacrima-stuff. Then there was this gypsy who gave Lisanna her love fortune. It was interesting though…

'_The light of one flame will be burned out by the blaze of a new ember'_

* * *

**A/N: **Thank you for reading all the way up to here. Please leave a review and tell me what you think! The story is going to pick up in the next story, so look forward to it! I will try my best to update again this Saturday. Until then, please check out my other stories The Cake's Armor + Dealing with Demons and Damsels. Peace!  
_To be continued in Chapter 4: A Chance Encounter?_


	4. Chance Encounter?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fairy Tail, it's Hiro Mashima's. (I'm sure you al know that). Nor do I own Grease. ;)

**A/N: **Heya all! I apologize for the delay in updating, I know I said Saturday, but my internet was down so I was unable to post it up. But it's here now and that's all that matters.

**ENJOY!**

* * *

_Chapter 4:_ _Chance Encounter?_

The train came to a standstill sooner than Lucy had expected. Natsu was soundly asleep on her lap, and Happy slept on his side. Lucy felt sad that she would have to wake Natsu up. She played with his hair, trying to wake him up gently, but that would soon prove to have not been necessary.

Natsu's face twitched and he squirmed a bit, his eyes flickering open. When he felt that he wasn't motion sick anymore, he bolted upright, his head hitting Lucy's. Lucy head shot back, but luckily there wasn't any wall or railing behind it.

"That hurt, Lucy! What's inside that big head of yours!? It's probably something really heavy…" Natsu complained, rubbing his forehead. Happy awoke to, murmuring something about how Lucy's whiplash looked so funny. Lucy snapped her head back to its original position and stood up, causing Natsu and Happy to fall to the ground.

"That's my brain! And for your information, it's so heavy because I have to do the thinking for all three of us!" Lucy explained, eyebrow twitching.

"Oi Lucy, wait!" Natsu said squeamishly. The sudden fall caused him to feel sick again. Lucy only continued walking "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…" Natsu tried to apologize. Lucy looked over at Natsu and couldn't stop herself from laughing. Lucy never thought that an expression mixed with guilt and queasiness could look so funny. She walked up to Natsu and swung his arm over her shoulder.

"Geez, you're really hopeless, you know that?" Lucy scolded contentedly.

"Lucy, what about me?" Happy called after Lucy as she started to walk away. Lucy glanced at Happy before she grabbed him and put him on her traveler bag. Happy looked at Lucy unpleasantly. "That's not fair; Lucy's big enough to carry both of us!"

"If you don't like it you could always fly." Lucy pointed out, ignoring the comment about her being big.

"It's not the same…" Happy said dejectedly, looking up at Lucy with big eyes. It caused Lucy to pause. She scolded herself for falling so easily for that trick. She picked him up and let him hold on to her. Happy purred contentedly into Lucy's shoulder.

"No funny remarks or I;m carrying you by the tail!" Lucy warned.

"Aye!" Happy affirmed. Both him and Lucy missed Natsu's pleased smile.

* * *

Natsu and Lucy were walking on the ceramic-tale paved path which was situated in between the tall brick buildings. In the distance one could see the clock tower stretching into the sky, overlooking the entire town. Chariots were the primary mode of transportation. Those who were rich had ones made of gold and those less fortunate rode wooden or steel chariot taxis.

Soon Lucy and Natsu reached their destination. It was a tall building, but not as tall as the others. It had a little green roof over the exterior door and potted plants stood in some of the windowsills. The red tile roof gleamed as the sun's light was reflected by it.

Lucy knocked on the door and a voice from the inside told them to enter. A woman at the front desk told them that their contact was on the top floor.

Lucy was surprised when she entered their contacts' room, it was immaculate. Dark green sofas surrounded a white wooden table. An old piano stood against the one wall. Curious, Natsu went to inspect it, Happy followed after.

"Don't touch, Natsu!" Lucy hissed.

"Don't worry, I'm just checking to see if it could hold any clues to our criminal." Natsu said, lifting the top and stoking the black and white keys with his thumb.

"Aye! It could be dangerous!" Happy agreed.

"I assure you that the piano is not the enemy." A new voice joked. A middle-aged woman, with short curly brown hair and a long-sleeved floral-print dress walked through the door next to the piano carrying a tray of steaming cups. She went to sit them on the table.

"Noriko-san" Lucy chirped. "We apologize for our late arrival; there was some…complications with the train." She tried to explain.

"Its fine, the criminals usually only come out at night, so it's good that you arrived when you did." Miss Noriko told them.

"So, about the criminals..?" Lucy asked, going to sit on the sofa.

"Yeah, what do you have on them for us?" Natsu queried and sat down next to Lucy while Happy went to stare at some fish in a tank on the far side of the room.

"That's right. Well basically every night the last week young women had disappeared on their way home from the local night clubs. People have reported sightings of dark figures flying through the night. The woman has become so afraid that they refuse to leave their houses, even just to go to the 500-jewel store down the street." Miss* paused and took a sip from her Elizabethan tea before she continued. "Normally, as the head of Akai Tsuki's Department of Security I would have seen to it that the threat would have been dealt with already, but the criminals vandalized our offices. So while it's being repaired, I decided to call in the help of a mage guild. Do you think you'll be able to help?" she finished.

"Late night perverts targeting young girls? This will be a cinch for Fairy Tail!" Natsu said, showing of his bicep.

"I don't know Natsu, I don't think the hit first; ask questions later approach will work this time…" Lucy contemplated, staring at the fishes just like Happy. Both had their heads tilted slightly in front of the bowl. The fishes, scared by the attention, swam away and hid in their coral homes.

"Don't worry about it Luce, what could go wrong?" Natsu said as he went towards the door, shouting that he's all fired up.

"Lucy, what's wrong?" Happy asked, flying up to her.

"Now that Natsu had said that, I feel like everything will suddenly start to go wrong…" Lucy said and sighed. "We'll be leaving now, Noriko-san"

"Alright, I greatly appreciate Fairy Tail's help. Your award will be given upon arrest of the criminals. Until then, take care!" Miss* greeted. Lucy waved and left.

The rest of the day the two spent going around town. They planned to go to one of the nightclubs that night, so Lucy decided to do some shopping while Natsu started senseless fires just to get a snack.

_Back at the Akai Tsuki station, Lisanna stepped out into the warmth of the sun. Lisanna's contact was in this town, the same as Natsu's. It would be only a matter of time before they met again…_

* * *

It was dusk when Lucy and Natsu left the apartment building in which they would stay for their mission.

They were both dressed up in 70's outfits and donned their dancing shoes. Natsu had a white and gold Rocket man suit on while Lucy wore a far out hippie dress and white boots. They decided that they would enjoy some dancing while they waited for the criminals to make their move. No use chasing after a shadow in the dark as Lucy always reckoned...

They arrived at Club Nishibi. Natsu picked up the smell of many young human girls.

"This is the place which Nori O bāchan told us would be a good place to start, né Lucy?" Natsu said. Lucy looked at the club and back to Natsu.

"Yup, this is the one! Let's check it out. If it gets too quiet, we'll move on to the next one. Those criminals are bound to show up sooner or later!" Lucy said with surety.

When they stepped inside, they were it with the sound of oldies music; people everywhere chatted and swayed their hips side to side. Neon red and orange lights danced of the walls, lighting the room up in an almost fiendish glow. A large disco ball hung over the checkered dance floor

"Welcome to Club Nishibi" a waitress in a 'free spirit' costume said as she walked up to them, offering them champagne.

"Oh, thanks!" Natsu said and wanted to take one, but Lucy stopped him.

"Maybe later." Lucy said and smiled at the waitress, who looked cast off. While she pulled Natsu towards the dance floor she whispered into his ear. "We have to remain sober for our mission."

Natsu wanted to argue, but he knew that Lucy had a point. _'Although the only thing I could truly get high on was too much fire, but no one needs to know that, so don't tell!'_ Natsu thought the words to no one in particular.

_I got ch-i-lls, they're multiplying_

_And I'm l-o-sing control_

_Cause the power, you're supplying,_

_It's electrifying!_

The Grease song began, and Lucy suddenly had the urge to hit the dance floor. She signaled for Natsu to join her. He looked unwilling at first, but shrugged and stepped up to the stage.

_You better shape up,' cause a need a man_

_And my heart is set on you_

_You better shape up, you better understand_

_To my heart I must be true…_

_Nothing left, nothing left for me to do…_

Lucy felt the words had struck a chord and she began to blush as she lightly moved her head to the tune.

_You're the one that I want_

_You are the one I want_

_Ho, ho, ho honey x 2_

_You're the one that I want_

_You are the one I want_

_Ho, ho, ho, the one I need,_

_Oh yes indeed_

Natsu took Lucy's hand and began to spin her around, twirling her by her finger. He swung her outwards and back into his chest.

_If you're filled with affection_

_You're too shy to convey_

_Meditate in my direction_

_Feel your way_

Lucy didn't know what to think, she was on fire, but it was so much fun! She kept going with it.

_I better shape up, 'cause you need a man_

I need a man who can keep me satisfied

_I better shape up, if I'm gonna prove_

You better prove that my faith is justified

_Are you sure? Yes I'm sure down deep inside…_

Natsu held her closely, and while wearing his signature grin, began to lead Lucy. He stepped forward, backward, to the side and backwards again. They turned and turned. Lucy laughed and held on to Natsu's shoulder so she didn't fall, he was holding her tightly around her waist for the fun of it.

In the last chorus Natsu released her and they began to move in sync, playing around on the dance floor. The moved around each other, Happy flew over and sung falsely while giggling. Lucy knew why, and she blushed more. Natsu just kept that priceless expression of pure enjoyment on his face.

The song ended, Natsu and Lucy still giggling.

"I'm going to get us something to quench our thirst," Lucy called to Natsu who started doing 80th century moves* on the dance floor to the following Grease song Summer Days.

Lucy ordered her drink at the bar and sat down on one of the bar stools, sighing.

"Having a blast, aren't we?" a voice hissed from next to Lucy. Lucy almost yelped thinking it was a snake. When she looked she saw the person sitting one bar stool away from her.

"Lisanna?" Lucy called in surprise. Lisanna stirred her drink with a straw as she inspected Lucy.

"He's cute, isn't he?" Lisanna asked rhetorically, looking back at Natsu who started doing tricks with his fire. Lucy laughed.

"It's only a matter of time before he sets the building on fire." Lucy suspected. When Lisanna didn't reply, Lucy decided to try to keep the conversation going. ""So, what are you doing here?" she asked. Lisanna looked at Lucy for a moment and then back to her drink.

"I'm here on a mission, although I came to this night club hoping to spend some time with Natsu, but I forgot that you're here." Lisanna said bitterly. Lucy was taken aback.

'Lisanna must have heard about it from Happy when he asked Mirajane about where we were. Did she come all this way because she didn't like the idea of me and Natsu being alone together? But we're always together on other missions, so why now?' Lucy wondered, concerned.

"Tell me, did you get anything out of it?" Lisanna suddenly asked. Lucy raised a questioning eyebrow at Lisanna. "Are you just craving his attention and for him to protect you like his princess? Do you want him to complete all the difficult missions so that you could brag for being part of the strongest team?" Lisanna interrogated Lucy. She stood up from her stool, knocking over her drink. At the sound of shattering glass, Lisanna was face to face with Lucy. "Well forget it! I knew Natsu long before you. And I'm still crazy for him! You may have fallen for him at first sight and think that something is beginning to ignite between you, but this is nothing more than a summer fling!" Lisanna snapped.

Every word hit Lucy full force. She felt offended, and although she considered Lisanna her friend, if Lisanna wanted to play this game, Lucy wouldn't back down.

"Don't get frustrated with me because you disappeared all those years ago! I admit that I have fallen for him, but it's only because he was kind to me. He showed me Fairy Tail, saved my live more times than I dare to count, and taught me to never give up!" Lucy defended herself.

"Natsu's kind to everyone! Don't think that you're special; you were merely a replacement for _me_!" Lisanna sassed. Suddenly the images of the dream she had, came back to her. _The hug, the kiss…no!_ Lucy scolded herself, _I won't give in!_

"I don't believe that for a second!" Lucy declared, standing up. "You don't have a claim on him, but you're more than welcome to fight for him. I should warn you though that I won't go down without a fight!" Lucy resolved. Lisanna smirked devilishly.

"I'll make you eat those words! I have just arrived so you may have a head start, but from here on out it's anyone's game!" Lisanna declared dramatically and left, slamming the door behind her.

Lucy fell back down on her seat, exhausted in every aspect. She didn't mean for their quarrel to get so out of hand. 'But this could be an opportunity to find out where Natsu's heart truly lies, which was the whole point of this mission in the first place. Then something suddenly hit Lucy. _'If Lisanna just arrived and hasn't been to her contact yet, then that means she doesn't know of the late night perverts yet…!'_

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you so much for reading my story! I'm sorry I had to break the chapter off here, but if I didn't then the chapter would have been too long. The next chapter will be up soon, like in now. So go on head and see you in the next one! (^.^)/  
P.S. Please tell me what you liked, disliked etc. I would like to improve for myself and for your enjoyment!  
_To be continued in Chapter 5: The Game Heats Up!_


	5. The Game Heats Up!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fairy Tail, it belongs to Hiro Mashima. (I'm sure you all know that by now) ^.^

**A/N: **Heya!Here's the second part of chapter 4 which is actually a chapter on its own so I posted it as chapter 5 because chapter 4 had gotten too long and…yeah…never mind, I'm just babbling!  
_P.S. A long overdue thank you for everyone who has read, reviewed, favorite'd and followed my story! 3_

**ENJOY!**

* * *

_Chapter 5:_ _The Game Heats Up!_

A loud scream was heard from outside. All the activity in the club came to a standstill before everyone broke into hysterics, shouting that the perverts had arrived.

'"Lucy!" Natsu called in panic. Natsu ran towards the bar where he last saw her sitting down. Only now, she was standing and had a panicked expression on her face. "Lucy, snap out of it, now!" Natsu ordered and Lucy complied. "What's wrong, what happened?" Natsu wanted to know.

"No, it's just…Never mind that! It seems like the criminals have arrived, we've got to go out and stop them!" Lucy said urgently and headed to the door. Natsu stopped her though.

"Wait, Lucy! If a bunch of people go out now, they might get hurt or stolen! You have to keep them here!" Natsu said seriously.

"Right, leave it to me!" Lucy nodded and took out one of her Zodiac Keys, Natsu couldn't tell which one, since he was already halfway to the door.

"Open Gate of the Harp Constellation; Lyra!" Lucy called and activated her silver key.

"I'm back!" Lyra called excitedly. "Long time no see Lucy! So, what do you want me to sing for you today? Some jazz, blues, or maybe a rock medley?" Lyra chattered away without stopping.

"It's good to see you again to, Lyra! And for today, we only need to stop these people from leaving, so could you put them to sleep with a lullaby?" Lucy asked, cutting Lyra off before she started on one of her rants that could last the entire short time that she's available.

"Sing a lullaby to keep these people from leaving? Are they your hostages who need punishment?" Lyra asked curiously.

"Of course they're not! You have hung out too much with Virgo lately! Well it doesn't matter, just do it Lyra!" Lucy insisted that her spirit get on with it.

"Alrighty!" Lyra said and began to play a beautiful, melancholic tune which sounded like the voices of a thousand angels. At Lyra's suggestion, Lucy covered up her ears so she wouldn't be affected, while people dropped to the floor one by one around her.

* * *

'_Good'_ Natsu thought as he rounded the corner, he could her Lucy's spirit singing. It was dark out, only a few lights lit up the street. Natsu sniffed the air and headed in an eastern direction after he caught one of the girl's scent. It was strangely familiar though, the same scent that came and disappeared so quickly earlier.

Soon Natsu spotted two shadowed figures running along the top of the roofs.

"Happy!" Natsu called.

"Aye sir!" the flying cat replied. He swooped down and caught Natsu. They ascended into the air, flying high over the top of the roofs.

"Over there!" Natsu said as they saw the criminals jumping from one roof to the next. But then Natsu noticed that the other man also had a young woman, and her smell was strong due to too much perfume. It didn't matter though because Natsu was sure that he could save both of them.

When they were close enough, Happy dropped Natsu on the roof. The shadow figures looked startled. The one said something to the other, who wanted to protest, but the first had already left.

"You're going to regret stealing these girls, pal!" Natsu assured the thief and launched forward, destroying a few tiles in the process. The figure dodged Natsu's Iron Fist just in time due to him becoming a shadow. The thief then returned the favor by shooting a bunch of shadow arrows towards Natsu. Surprising to Natsu, the arrows were actually sharp and his cheek got grazed by one.

Natsu quickly recovered and tried a few more iron fists, but the thief dodged all of them. Natsu began to catch the pattern of the thief's movement. He jumped up high into the sky and used his Fire Dragon's Wing Attack.

When the thief turned to the side, the woman away from the fire, and only making his one side shadow, thus dodging the blow, Natsu knew his theory was correct. The shadow magic user could turn himself into a shadow, but not anyone else, and he doesn't want the girl to get hurt. However, when it came down to it, the thief would choose his own life over his victim's. '_Well then I just have to…_' Natsu thought as he placed his fists in front of his mouth.

"Fire dragon's Roar!" Natsu shouted and breathed an amazing amount of fire. It was impossible for the thief to save himself while holding on to the woman, but he needed her alive, so he threw the woman to the side, out of the fire's range, and tried to dodge himself, but he was too late. The fire breath hit him full force and he was sent flying backwards, skidding along the roof, tiles flying everywhere.

The man had thrown the girl with such force that she was almost over the edge of the roof. _'Oh shit!_' Natsu thought as he headed for the edge. He stretched his hand out, but he was too late, the girl was already falling. _'Dammit!'_ Natsu wanted to scream but then he saw something blue fly past him. Natsu looked over his shoulder and saw that Happy had caught the girl and placed her safely on the roof.

"Good job, Happy!" Natsu said, going over and patting Happy on the head

"Aye, it was a piece of fish!" Happy saluted proudly.

* * *

"Natsu, Happy!" Lucy called up from below to the top of the roof. She had seen the earlier explosion on the top of the roof, so that must have meant that Natsu had effectively dealt with the thief. Lucy came straight over here because she knew that Natsu could be with Lisanna right that moment. Natsu looked over the edge.

"Oh Lucy, what are you doing all the way down there?!" Natsu called.

"I can't come up because the building's closed and the stairs at the side of the building have all crashed down." Lucy answered quickly.

"Happy, go down and pick her won't you?" Natsu asked, looking over to Happy.

"But Natsu, she's s-o h-e-a-v-y" Happy complained, loud enough for Lucy to hear him, and dragged out the last part.

"I heard that!" Lucy called up angrily. She could hear him snicker while Natsu tried to convince him to do it. Finally, after promising Happy ¾ of the fish from their next fishing trip, Happy agreed. Happy flew down and picked up Lucy, thanking her for the fish. Lucy had to hold back the urge to pull his tail, pluck his feathers and twist his ears, and a lot of other horrible things.

When they reached the top Lucy saw Natsu sitting by a passed out girl. But it wasn't Lisanna. Lucy sighed in l. Maybe Lisanna wasn't captured after all. Lucy looked over to where one of the thieves laid passed out against a chimney on the next roof over.

"Good work Natsu, was that the only thief?" Lucy asked. Natsu seemed to think back a bit before his faced turned into a look of remembrance.

"Actually, there was another thief who also had a girl, but he got away." Natsu recalled. What disturbed Lucy wasn't the fact that Natsu actually let a criminal get way, it was because he was so calm about it. Lucy wasn't out of the woods yet, that girl could have been Lisanna!

"Well why didn't you go after them? How could you let them get away!?" Lucy snapped.

"Hey don't get mad at me! This girl's perfume was so strong that it overpowered my senses and I lost track of the other one!" Natsu tried to defend himself.

"Natsu," Lucy began worriedly, "did you notice anything familiar about the other girl?" she asked.

"Well yeah, I smelled her earlier on when she was in the club, but her scent disappeared right before the scream." Natsu answered. Lucy felt her heart sink to her ankles.

"Natsu, I think that girl could have been Lisanna." Lucy said softly, hoping Natsu wouldn't hear it, although, due to his super dragon hearing, he caught every word. His expression was first one of confusion, to horror and then to anger

"What was that? Lisanna? How would you know that she was even here?" Natsu asked heatedly.

"Natsu…" Happy called softly, upset. He could feel Natsu's emotions, and right now Happy felt his fear.

"I know because I saw her in the club when I went to the bar! We argued and she left, I didn't have a chance to warn her against the perverts" Lucy explained, trying to calm Natsu down.

"So it's your fault that she got caught!" Natsu accused Lucy, walking up to her and staring her down. This time, it was Lucy's turn to get angry.

"It wasn't my fault! The way I see it, you're also a bit responsible since you let the thief get away" Lucy argued

"I didn't let them get away; I lost her scent because of this girl!" Natsu said, pointing to the sleeping beauty.

"Natsu, hold on a bit!" Happy said, "Why don't we find out if it was really Lisanna in the first place?" Happy suggested, pointing to the passed out thief on the other roof.

"Good idea, Happy! I'm sure it wasn't and Lucy's just loony" Natsu said and he jumped over. Lucy wanted to follow with a retort, but a voice stopped her.

"Lucy-sama." The deep and mature voice called. Lucy turned around and saw that it was Capricorn.

"Capricorn?" Lucy noted in surprise. _'Did he pass through the gate on his own?'_ Lucy wondered.

"I noticed your distress and if I may, I would like to make a recommendation for you." Capricorn started. Lucy nodded in reply, embarrassed that her childishness had caused one of her spirits to step in. "Be wise and think about it before you act. Should it be true that the girl had been kidnapped partially because of you; you have to accept the responsibility for it and help to save her. That way you could make it up to her and to _him_." Capricorn ended, pointing to Natsu who was shaking the thief violently and Happy who was slapping with a fish.

"Thank you, Capricorn. I will take your words into consideration." Lucy promised.

"I wish you the best of luck, Lucy-sama." Capricorn said with a bow and disappeared back into the celestial world.

As Lucy walked over to where Natsu was violently shaking the thief, she thought about Capricorn's words. Lucy still considered Lisanna her friend, and she would never deliberately cause her capture. That's why she would help save her at any cost! Lucy reached the edge of the roof when Happy came flying over to her.

"LUCY!" He called, coming to a stop a few inches away from her.

"What's wrong Happy? What did the thief say?" Lucy wanted to know urgently.

"It's terrible, Lucy! The description the thief gave of the other girl matches Lisanna's perfectly! And now the thief doesn't want to tell us where their base is!" Happy cried.

"But why would he tell Natsu of one of their victims but not their base?" Lucy wondered out loud.

"I don't know, ask the author!" Happy said.

"Huh?" Lucy asked, Happy only wailed in reply. Ignoring Happy's earlier strange reply, Lucy looked over to the other roof. She saw that Natsu was getting angry. Flames begun to lick his skin._ 'Could that be the reason for Happy's shuddering?'_ Lucy wondered. _'Was he so attuned to Natsu's feelings that he could tell how angry Natsu was?'_

"Happy, Is there something wrong with Natsu? Are you afraid of him?" Lucy asked gently. Happy descended until he was flat on his bum on the roof.

"He's scary Lucy...it's the same as the time that Lisanna disappeared. He's probably feeling guilty all over again!" Happy said, lips quivering and tears threatened to fall from his eyes.

Lucy looked over and saw that Natsu was standing up. He created a giant ball of flame in his one fist. Lucy suspected that it was just as powerful as his Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame. However Lucy tried to convince herself that that was impossible. What's more is that the flame was beginning to change color, it looked almost...blue? Lucy was sharp enough to have noticed how the thief's expression changed from recognition to terror.

"Happy, fly me over there now!" Lucy ordered urgently.

"Huh, why..?" Happy asked, emotionally drained.

"I think Natsu's lost it, if we don't stop him now he might go on a rampage and hurt some innocent people!" Lucy explained tugging on Happy's ear. Happy caught on to Lucy's drift and stood up.

"Aye!" he said, and grabbing Lucy, departed into the air. _'Dammit! All this drama just for Lisanna?'_ Lucy thought in distress. As they approached, the strong wind caused by Natsu's spontaneous combustion outburst was too strong a force and Happy was pushed back.

"It's too strong!" Happy said, being pushed back more and more.

"It's okay, Happy, I can reach him from here, so drop me now!" Lucy ordered.

"Are you insane?!" Happy shouted.

"I can stop him, Trust me!" Lucy requested with a reassuring smile. Happy bit his lip, it was his turn to be decisive.

"Dammit!" Happy said as he let go of Lucy.

"Thank you...Happy" Lucy whispered as she plummeted downwards. She angled her free fall so that Natsu was right underneath her. She stared at him as he came closer and closer. "Natsu, you have to stop this now!" she screamed as she crashed into his back. Natsu, due to his reflexes, grabbed Lucy's wrist and turned her over mid-fall. Lucy felt Natsu's entire weight fall on top of her. She looked into his fierce eyes and felt raw fear, but she wasn't going to give in.

"Natsu, you have to calm down!" Lucy said sternly. "I know it's tough for you, having lost sight of Lisanna again, but she isn't gone yet!" Lucy tried to reason with him. He didn't say anything, so she decided to continue. "If we work together now, we could still save her, right? we're a team!" Lucy tied to reassure him. She felt that he wasn't pressing her down that much anymore and that his grip on her wrist had loosened. She took her wrists out from underneath his hands and folded her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry this had to happen, but okay it's going to be, I promise." Lucy whispered. She held him closely for a while until his breathing became more even. She looked over to where the thief still laid looking horrified. "Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way." Lucy began. Happy, catching Lucy's drift, chimed in.

"If you don't want us to let this beast – Fairy Tail's salamander loose on you, then you better tell us your motives for capturing our friend and where you're taking her!" Happy threatened with a glare.

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you!" the man started, holding his hands up in front of his body in a defensive way. "I'm a Shadow Agent who works for the underground fight club Otome where men fight each other and the women we capture are their prizes, Your friend is tonight's prize!" He explained in a single breath without stopping. Lucy felt Natsu tense at the mention of Lisanna's name. She rubbed his back gently and shot a glare at the thief. He gulped before continuing . "I'll take you there, so please, don't let his Blue Flame hurt me!" The man cowered.

_'Blue flame?'_ Lucy thought. _'What could that be?'_ she wondered as she looked at Natsu, his bangs shadowed his eyes.

"You hear that?" Lucy said comfortingly, "The man will take us too Lisanna!" Natsu stirred and looked up at Lucy, huffing he let out a few flames.

"It took you long enough." Natsu said as he moved away from Lucy and stood up. Lucy looked confused for a second. "You said that we're gonna save Lisanna right, so come on!' he said with a smirk as he grabbed the thief by his collar. Lucy let out a breath in relief. She was glad that Natsu had calmed down. He still wasn't back to his original self yet, but Lucy knew that he would be after a fire snack.

At Natsu's queue they all started moving along the roofs, Happy occasionally helped Lucy to cross the distance between two roofs.

"Hey Natsu, we're gonna beat up a lot of bad guys now, right?" Happy asked excitedly.

"You bet!" Natsu said confidently and shouted into the night sky "I'm all fired up now!"

* * *

**A/N: **There you have, we are approaching the climax of the story! I will probably update this story again this weekend, in the meantime, please check out my other stories 'The Cake's Armor' and "Dealing with Demons and Damsels' (I'm shameless, I know). SO please leave me a review and tell me what you think? It always helps me, keeps me grateful and motivated! See ya in the next one!  
_To be continued in Chapter 6: Flaming Fists_


	6. Flaming Fists

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail, it is all Hiro Mashima's work.

**A/N:** The climax of the arc has arrived at last!

**ENJOY!**

* * *

_Chapter 6: Flaming Fists_

Lucy and Happy followed after Natsu who was dragging the thief by his collar. He followed the directions the thief gave them without question, and it bothered Lucy. She knew that the thief could easily lead them into a trap, and Natsu wouldn't suspect anything. Lucy hoped that the thief won't do anything since he had shown that he fears the repercussions; Natsu's 'blue flame'.

Their path altered from the straightforward one on the main road to a more secluded path as they entered an alleyway. The moved through a maze of back streets, turning left and right more times than Lucy could count.

After rounding the corner of a tall building, Lucy saw that they had reached the clock tower. It was tall and made of the most beautiful stones. Its tower stretched high into the night sky. The clock on it showed that it was almost midnight. Across from the clock tower was a small brick house. In front of its wall sat a cloaked figure. Lucy suspected that he was probably a Shadow Agent.

The thief signaled them to wait, but Team Natsu would have none of it; they didn't trust him. Lucy communicated with one of her spirits and not a moment later Virgo appeared.

"Is it time for punishment, Princess?" Virgo asked, curtsying.

"This time it is. Would you mind?" Lucy asked, showing with her hand to the confused thief.

"It would be my pleasure, Princess." Virgo said as she attached Celestial Cuffs to the thief's hands. Virgo told them that if he tried to run or betray them, he would be transported to the Celestial World and be punished by the celestial spirit herself.

Virgo also handed Natsu a cloak, complete with a red dragon breathing fire on its back. She told him that it would hide the fact that Natsu's from Fairy Tail. Natsu argued that he wanted them to know that it was Fairy Tail who would beat them up. Lucy managed to talk sense into him by saying that everyone would run if they knew his true identity, and that he could only show his identity when the time was right. Natsu reluctantly agreed. With that, Virgo disappeared.

The thief walked over to the cloaked figure, Team Natsu in tow behind him. He exchanged a few words with the cloaked figure. The figure glanced in Team Natsu's direction and nodded at the thief. He stood up and, placing his hand on the wall behind him, activated a magic seal.

"This is as far as I take you" the thief said. Lucy and Natsu looked at each other and nodded, it was time for them to save Lisanna and wipe the club from existence. Happy flew over to the thief and slapped him

with his fish, just for good measure. They passed through the wall of the brick house. The thief collapsed from his injuries the moment they disappeared through the wall.

* * *

Once they were inside, they went down narrow and small stairs into what looked like an old and busted club. It was dimly lit, the only light came from the ring and the firefly lamps on the large, round tables. The tables surrounded a fighting ring, where two combatants were already fighting it out. Behind the fighting ring there was a small stage with a pedestal. Happy thought that it was probably were the 'prize' would stood.

"That's disgusting…." Natsu mumbled under his breath.

"Aye, but we need to save Lisanna" Happy reminded Natsu softly. Happy might not have super dragon hearing, but he could hear when Natsu was upset. Natsu narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"No. You go with Lucy and save Lisanna and the other captured girls. I will go beat some sense into these old thugs" Natsu replied resolutely, punching his palm with his fist. "A man only fights for the woman he loves, not for a woman that doesn't love him back". Happy nodded and relayed the message to Lucy. She smiled at Natsu's words.

"Alright then, I'll find the women and release them. You just make sure that you come back in one piece, okay?" Lucy called to Natsu. Natsu nodded in reply and Lucy, with Happy behind her, moved into the opposite direction.

* * *

Natsu stomped over to the where a man was lazing with his feet on a table which had a cheaply made board on it that said 'Participant's Enter Here'.

At first the man refused to allow Natsu to enter, but he quickly changed his tune when Natsu kicked him, making him fly backwards. After Natsu scribbled his name on the entry form he was given, the man ran over to the mc. The mc looked over the paper once and nodded at the registration guy.

Natsu looked over to the ring and saw the contestants, with their boxing gloves on, step-dragging around each other. Natsu had to hold himself back from not joining in. He would get his turn to beat up those old thugs soon. He was too busy thinking of killer move combo's to see the finishing blow. He only heard the referee counting. The bell which dinged loudly and the crowd's loud cheers rang through Natsu's ears._'They're so loud!'_ Natsu thought irritated.

"_That ends the first match of the Otome Fighting Contest! The victor is the most impressive Hook-san" _The mc declared dramatically. _"Now our victor will have to face off against all-star Bachelor Brave in match nr 2! Who will win?"_ The mc asked and the crowd answered with heavily divided cheers.

After Hook-san won the round, Natsu started to get impatient. He walked over to the mc and began bugging him to let him join in the fun to. The mc, pressured, agreed. In the next round,Coach John defeated Hook-san.

"_Alright then, next up we have a late entry! He goes by Salamander!"_ The mc announced, and Natsu stepped up to the stage.

"I'm going to enjoy dealing with you, novice." Coach John said confidently, cracking his knuckles.

"Don't hold your breath old man!" Natsu shot back, stretching his neck from side to side.

"_The insults have started flying already! Does the rookie salamander stand any chance against the local veteran?" _The mc shouted excitedly into his microphone. "Let's find out, BEGIN!" at that, the bell gonged, signaling the start of the battle.

* * *

Lucy ran down the dreary hall, following Happy. Happy was tracing Lisanna's scent and it led them to a pale, wooden door. Lucy could hear soft whispers and shuffling from the inside.

"You sure it's in here, Happy?" Lucy asked in a whisper.

"Aye! The nose never lies!" Happy said with certainty.

"Alright then, but we can't just barge in, so we have to take a more subtle approach…" Lucy started, but the door that burst open interrupted her. A man flew out. "KYA!" she screamed, jumping out of the way.

"What happened?" Happy asked.

"I don't know…" Lucy replied honestly. The door had completely flown of its hinges. She looked around the corner of the door post. When she saw who was standing in the centre of the room, she was astonished. "Lisanna..?" She asked, looking at the girl. Lisanna had her Animal Soul: Half Bird active.

"Lucy? What are you doing here?" Lisanna asked, narrowing her eyes. "Is Natsu here too?"

"Aye!" Happy said, popping up. "He's over there fighting the bad guys in the ring!"

"Oh, Happy? I didn't notice you" Lisanna said, looking over at Happy for the first time.

"That's mean…" Happy mumbled sadly.

"Don't mind that! We're here to rescue you, so come on!" Lucy said urgently and started to walk towards the door.

"Thanks, but I don't need saving." Lisanna said, causing Lucy to stop mid-step and turned to look at her. She exchanged a confused look with Happy.

"But the one thief told us that they kidnapped you, so I thought that…"

"Kidnapped?" Lisanna repeated, interrupting Lucy. "I wasn't kidnapped; I merely feigned capture so the thieves would take me to their hideout, which they did." Lisanna deadpanned.

"But...why?" Lucy wanted to know, shocked.

"Simple. It was part of my mission. My client asked me to infiltrate this club and expose them. So that's what I'm here to do." Lisanna explained further, sighing. Lucy raised an eyebrow.

"What a coincidence, that's part of the reason we're here too!" Lucy began "Although, our client didn't tell us that she was sending anyone else…" she said, rubbing her chin.

"Maybe our clients were different!" Happy said, popping up.

"Well it doesn't matter now, we're both here so we might as well work together" Lucy suggested. Lisanna looked doubtful at first. Lucy suspected that she would, considering their earlier argument. Lucy surprised herself when she suggested the partnership.

"Sure, why not?" Lisanna shrugged. "At least your spirits could be of some use." Lucy wanted to retort, but Lisanna didn't give her the chance. "I'm going to release the other captured women; you can come along if you want to." Lisanna said, waving her hand.

"Save the other captured women?" Lucy repeated. For the first time she entered the room Lucy actually noticed a bunch of woman chained to the wall, all dressed up. "Oh, I see…"

"Yeah, so you better not hold me back!" Lisanna warned.

"As if!" Lucy said and gave a confident smirk.

"Guys, there's trouble!" Happy shouted, flying in.

"Oh, Happy, you left?" Lisanna and Lucy asked in unison. They didn't even notice.

"You're mean…" Happy mumbled again. "But forget that, more bad guys are coming!"

* * *

Natsu pivoted on his foot and dealt the coach a last deadly left hook which sent him flying backwards into the ring. The bell signaled a win by knockout a moment later.

'_Oops, I tried to hold back to make the fight more interesting, but I guess it was still too much for him.' _Natsu thought while seeing the man being loaded on top of a stretcher. Natsu didn't feel sorry at all. He had resolved that we would give those bastards what's coming to them.

Natsu kept up his winning streak through the following rounds. He sent his opponents flying left and right. Finally, Natsu had reached his last opponent.

"_Ladies and gentleman, isn't this a surprise!? The rookie Salamander making it all the way through to the last round! And not only that but he's being pitted against the former champ!"_ The mc announced excitedly. Loud cheers went up in the crowd. _"And here he is now! A-c-e RON!"_ The mc sang loudly at when the champion entered. He was long, had ripped muscles and short black hair. He had a scar running along the side of his face and over his deep blue eyes. The coat he was wearing had a ying-yang sign on the back.

"Begin!" the referee announced.

Natsu wasted no time in making his 1st move and attacked with a jab. Ace Ron counter punched by parrying Natsu's and throwing his own jab to Natsu's face. It landed a direct hit. Natsu thought it was pure luck and this time went in with the same starter, but followed up with a different punch. Again Natsu's jab and right-cross were blocked by the Ron's right glove and following right cross. The last hit to Natsu's face was especially strong since it sent Natsu flying and hitting the back of the ring.

'_Dammit!'_ Natsu thought frustrated _'This cocky bastard…he's waiting on me! And he's fast. How does he know how to stop my every move?' _Natsu wondered while whipping the blood that dripped from his nose away. Natsu stood up, but the sudden movement caused him to feel light-headed. Desperate, Natsu threw a lazy right cross, but it just got countered again, sending Natsu flying back once more.

* * *

"OPEN Gate of the Giant Crab and Gate of the Scorpion!" Lucy shouted and activated her keys just as the guards, cloaked in shadows, entered.

"Animal Soul: Monkey!" Lisanna shouted and she transformed into half humanoid, half-monkey.

Lisanna's cuteness stunned the men for a moment, which gave her the perfect opportunity to take advantage of them. Using her incredible speed and acrobatic skills, she launched herself at one of the guards and somersaulted before knee-kicking him in the face, sending him flying and crashing into the wall behind him. That broke all of the guards' trances and they simultaneously shot shadow arrows at Lisanna. She dodged them with ease, moving slickly from side to side while closing in on the guards. When she was in a close enough range, she went down and swept her foot across the ground, knocking three of them off balance.

'_That's incredible!'_ Lucy thought in amazement, _'she's overwhelming them; I can hardly keep up with my eyes!'_ Lucy saw Lisanna moving with great speed around the three guards she just tripped, tying them all up with a rope. _'If I don't step in now, Lisanna will have all the fun and I won't allow that!'_ Lucy resolved.

"Cancer, Scorpio!" Lucy called. Cancer had just given some the guards a brand new hairstyle, which devastated them, giving Scorpio the opportunity to take them all out with his sand spears.

"You called-ebi?" Cancer asked.

"Yeah, so listen closely! Defeating them one by one is taking too long, so let's take them all out at the same time!" Lucy suggested. Cancer and Scorpio exchanged knowing glances. "Use _that_!" Lucy said, smirking.

"Let's rock this, yeah!" Scorpio said, hand in its pincer-claw fold.

Scorpio started off by firing a large sand tornado towards the guards. Cancer, blades of his scissors extended, moved so that he was within the tornado. While spiraling, sand gathered around the blades. The amount of sand increased to a point where large spirals of sand formed over the blades. The sand tornado moved over the guards. Blinded, they all tried to blast the sand with their shadow spheres, but it was to no avail. Cancer, now among the guards, in a final and decisive movement, used his scissors and cut all the guards with the sand spirals.

"Al Taraf!" Cancer and Scorpion shouted together. The sheer force of the attack knocked all the shadow guards out effectively.

"We did it!" Lucy said, showing a victory sign. She saw that Lisanna looked irritated. Lucy didn't mind it they, all they needed to do more was to wait for Happy. He had gone out to search for the keys which would unlock the hostages' handcuffs. A cream from behind her interrupted her thoughts. Lucy spun around and saw that a large, cruel-looking, dark-skinned man had Lisanna in head lock. Lisanna's struggled in vain. Lucy knew that Lisanna couldn't transform in her current state, and that she had to help.

"Cancer, Scorpio!" Lucy called urgently, but they were already becoming transparent. Lucy knew that, because Scorpio has a date and Cancer was plain done for the day that her time with them was up.

Lucy, having to think fast, called Loke to take care of the big man. When he appeared a flurry of red rose petals appeared along with him. He donned a black suit with a red tie.

"My beautiful Lucy, could your heart not stand it when it was apart from its love?" Loke asked charmingly.

"Ugh, I wish. Listen Loke, Lisanna's in trouble. Help her, please…" Lucy said tiredly, her breathing had become heavy. She had used more magic power that she thought. Loke noticed Lucy's magic power level was dropping and immediately disappeared. He reappeared an instant later.

"You summoned me here while knowing that you had little magic power left! Don't you care what happens to your body? Why didn't you tell me to appear using my magic? You know I can!" Loke scolded Lucy. Lucy just nodded in reply. Loke sighed and shot a deadly glare over at the giant guard. In the next second Loke had used his Regulus Impact which sent the guard flying, thus releasing Lisanna.

Lisanna ran over to the captured women, who were all scared out of their shell by then. Happy flew into the room in the next moment. Lisanna and Lucy scolded him for taking so long; Happy apologized, saying he got 'distracted'. Happy gave her the keys, and Lisanna went to work on releasing the women.

Lisanna, Lucy, Happy and the women left the room in search of an exit. Loke called after Lucy that she owed him a 'thank you-kiss' and that he would return later to collect it before he disappeared.

* * *

Natsu's head hit the back of the ring with great force. He stood up wobbling. He tried to throw a feint, but the ace was more skilled than that. In the next moment Ace Ron had Natsu in a head lock. Natsu thought that he had picked up Ace Ron's counter style, but he was wrong.

"You moved up in the ranks so valiantly, I actually looked forward to this match, but now I'm just disappointed." Ace Ron said while giving a sad sigh

"Say what?" Natsu asked lowly.

"We men who are fighting for _the women_ take it very seriously." The ace started. The cowed howled in agreement. Natsu tensed. "They are our prizes and we treat them as such." He continued, earning more cheers from the crowd. It irked Natsu. He swore that once he broke free he would make these sick old geezers pay for their nasty deeds. "A rookie like you could never live up to our reputation. I have many _trophies_ waiting at home for me, so if you wouldn't mind…" the Ace started but a hit to his side interrupted him. It's not the punch that surprised him, but the burning sensation that came with it. Ace Ron looked down and saw that his opponent was on fire. He let go of the guy in an instant and backed away, stunned. The crowd was dead silent.

"_Hold on their friend, no magic in the ring…"_ the mc started but got hit in the face with a fire-ball. _"IT BURNS!" _the mc yelled into the microphone. It made a high-pitched sound as the entire sound system collapsed.

"What the hell, man?" the Ace asked. Natsu replied with a burning right cross-left hook-right cross combo which caused Ace Ron to stumble backwards.

"I'm not one of you nor do I want to." Natsu revealed plainly. He ripped of his coat and let it burn as it flew away. There, for everyone to see, was Fairy Tail's mark. "Your rules don't apply to me. I came here to make you pay for your perverted old habits!" Natsu shouted. He focused the flames of his body and made everything accumulate around his fists. "Dragon Slayer Secret Technique: Flaming Fists!" Natsu said as he took in his boxing stance, his flaming hands poised in front of his face. "Hit me with your best shot!" Natsu provoked the ace and he did just that.

The ace went in with a left hook but realized his mistake to attack first too late. Natsu had already countered with a quick flame jab and flaming right cross. Ron wanted to counter with a left, but Natsu got out quickly thus the Ace's range was too short. The ace was forced to step forward, which put a damper on his plan. Natsu used this opportunity to throw his flaming right cross, followed up by a burning left hook and another flaming right cross.

Natsu was in complete control of the match. Because Ace Ron could no longer counter, he was slipping up. It at last gave Natsu a chance to finish his super combo with his all-powerful 'Blaze of Glory'-jab. It hit Ace Ron full force and needless to say, it was a K.O.

The super combo caused some lateral damage though; it engulfed the entire room. Natsu directed the fire to send everyone who thought that women were just trophies, through the roof. He watched as they all crashed into a tall building.

Natsu's eyes wide in horror at the sound of a loud crash. A loud gong followed. Natsu felt shivers travel down his spine. He had forgotten that they were underneath the clock tower…

* * *

The sound of a great crash resounded through all of Akai Tsuki. The red moon, characteristic of the town, had nothing on the great pillar of fire that erupted from the clock tower. Smoke climbed high into the air.

Lucy, Lisanna and the young women (Happy: "Hey! Don't forget about me") escaped through a hole that opened up in the wall. Once they were outside, they had to duck and dive to avoid getting hit by the wooden tiles and intricate clock mechanisms which came falling down. But not only that…

"Look everyone!" a young woman called, pointing to the sky. They all looked up and saw that it was literally raining men. They all came crashing to the hostages' feet.

"These are the ones that wanted us kidnapped so that they could 'win' us! How indecent they are!" A more refined one said.

"Yeah, they're not some prizes that you could win pal!" Lucy said, disgusted. She Lucy-kicked one of the men and he flew into the others, sending them flying like bowling pins.

"Natsu" Lisanna whispered. Lucy felt her heart tighten. Of course she had to remember the dream at a time like this. She looked over to where Lisanna was running over to. She saw Natsu's silhouette emerge through the flames that surrounded the clock tower. Natsu held an unconscious guy with a bloody nose by his collar. He looked around and saw that all the hostages and, most importantly, that Lisanna and Lucy, were safe.

"Hey Guys!" Natsu greeted lightheartedly, grinning from ear to ear.

"Natsu!" Lisanna called again, this time throwing her arms around Natsu and hugged him. _'Good thing she didn't transform into a bear, otherwise Natsu would have been crushed'_ Lucy thought bitterly, though she almost laughed at it.

"Lucy-san" one of the hostages with a soft and sweet voice interrupted her thoughts cautiously. Lucy looked over at the young woman. "Um, we weren't sure of what to do, so we just, sort of, I mean…" she fumbled. Then she just decided to let her actions speak for herself. She took a rope out of seemingly nowhere and pointed at the guards. The hostages were all proudly standing on top of a heap of tied-up perverts.

"You took a bit of sweet revenge?" Lucy concluded after she assessed the situation. The petite woman blushed and nodded. Lucy had to smirk. _'If all of the women were as feisty as this, the town would have nothing to worry about!' _Lucy thought, before focusing her attention back on a relieved Natsu holding a 120-km/h conversation with Lisanna. _'I'm going to need a new plan…'_

* * *

**A/N: **Thank you for all those who supports my story! I'm sincerely sorry for making you wait! Tell me what you think of it, please? Also the guests, I would love to hear your voices too! P.s. My final exams are coming up so its study-study-study now, but I promise to slip in a new chapter as soon as I can ;).

_To be continued in Chapter 7: Simmer _(Last of Arc 1: Flaming Fists!)


	7. Simmer

**Disclaimer:** I do not, have not and will (probably) never own Fairy Tail. It all belongs to Hiro Mashima.

**A/N: **Thank you for all those who had supported my story! Here is the last (short) chapter of Arc 1: Flaming Fists

**ENJOY!**

* * *

_Chapter 7: Simmer_

The great fire that engulfed the clock tower seemed to have been the perfect backdrop to fit the Akai Tsuki town and its red moon. Smoke decorated the night sky.

Lisanna felt that it matched the one that caused all the trouble perfectly. She knew that only Natsu could cause this much damage and still go grinning about it. And here he was now, in front of her.

"Lisanna! Are you okay? Did they hurt you anywhere?" Natsu asked concerned.

"Um I'm okay, don't worry about it, Natsu!" Lisanna tried to ease his worry.

"For real? Like in no scratch, bruise, nick anywhere?" Natsu wanted to clarify.

"Yeah, I'm sure of it!" Lisanna said with a laugh. Natsu still didn't look convinced. Lisanna supposed that since Natsu thought she was kidnapped against her will that she would have been more shaken up. Lisanna knew that she needed to come clean. "Um Natsu, I…" Lisanna started. She glanced at him for a moment.

"Yeah?" Natsu replied.

"It's not like I got kidnapped against my will, I…wanted to be kidnapped…" Lisanna started hesitantly. She wondered how Natsu would react.

"What? Why would you let them catch you?" Natsu asked, confused. Looks like Lisanna had to tell him about the mission after all.

"It was for a mission that I took; a mission to infiltrate the club and expose them so that the Akai Tsuki town council could have grounds to shut them down on…" Lisanna explained slowly. "I didn't know that you guys also had a similar mission…"

"But Lisanna, why would you choose such a dangerous quest?" Natsu asked unhappily.

"It's because...when you left I felt kind of abandoned and I wanted to see you so I took the mission. I looked for one which would be close to you, and luckily I found one which was in the same area! I didn't know it was almost the same quest though…" Lisanna trailed off.

"So you took the quest to see me?" Natsu repeated. Lisanna nodded silently. Natsu thought about it for a moment before he snapped. "Are you an idiot!? It makes me happy that you wanted to see me, but what if you had gotten hurt?" Natsu yelled angrily. His sudden outburst caught the attention of all the young women as well as Lucy, who was talking to the person who was probably her contact. Lisanna grimaced and grabbed Natsu by his wrist. She took him around a corner and into an alleyway.

"Don't go getting angry at me now!" Lisanna hissed. "I only did it because I didn't like that you had gone out on a mission with Lucy! In fact, I don't even like the fact that she's on your team! I took the mission to prove to you that I could replace her in your team any day!" her last words resounded like a gunshot. Natsu looked shocked, as if he was dealt an unexpected blow.

* * *

Natsu didn't know that Lisanna felt like that. He figured that she was happy ever since she returned from Edolas. She hadn't told him otherwise, so had he been too dense to notice her unhappiness? _'That was definitely possible'_ Natsu confirmed to himself. Natsu never even thought of Lucy as a replacement for Lisanna or vice-verse. Everyone in Fairy Tail was his family, and he would rather die than hurt any of them.

"Sorry Lisanna, but you can't replace Lucy." Natsu stated. Lisanna was surprised.

"And why not? I could beat her in battle or smarts any day!" Lisanna insisted, but Natsu wouldn't budge.

"That's not what this is about. Lisanna, you and Lucy are both very important to me. And besides, Hiro Mashima wouldn't like it if I kicked Lucy out of Team Natsu" Natsu replied nonchalantly. Lisanna bit on her lip, frustrated.

"Hiro Mashima? Who the hell is that?" Lisanna asked hotly.

"Well you know it's actually a secret but he's…" Natsu started in a whisper but Lucy interrupted him when Lucy came running around the corner.

"Natsu, we have a problem!" Lucy called, coming up to them. Lisanna, still angry, looked away from them.

"What do you mean by 'problem'?" Natsu asked. He wondered if some of the bad guys had survived, but Natsu felt that was impossible.

"Well, see it's good that you beat up the bad guys and everything, but did you ever stop to think about the collateral damage you would cause if you went overboard?" Lucy asked plainly.

"Eh? Not really…" Natsu answered sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. _'Collateral damage? What the hell does that mean? I mean I know I've heard people around me using it a lot, but I could never really get its meaning' _Natsu confessed.

"Yeah, I didn't think so. Which is why, thanks to you, we have to _pay_ for that!" Lucy said and pointed with her thumb over her shoulder. Natsu looked over and saw that Lucy was pointing over at the burning half-destroyed clock tower. Natsu felt a lump rise in his throat.

"So what?" Natsu said and laughed nervously. "This is the Akai Tsuki town right? The red of the fire should fit right in…" Natsu said with a strained grin.

"This isn't a joke, Natsu! That clock tower was a historic relic passed down from generation to generation! It is the people of the town's duty to protect and _restore _it!" Lucy said emphasizing the last part. Natsu felt like he knew what was coming next. "And do you know what it costs to restore it?" Lucy asked. Natsu sweat dropped, he knew it. "600 000 jewel! The exact amount that we would've gotten paid for the mission!" Lucy shouted angrily.

* * *

The force of Lucy's shout caused Natsu to stumble backwards and fall down. Lucy recoiled, she didn't mean to sound so angry. No wait, she did. She was very angry, but she was also grateful…it was all too much for her.

"Sorry Luce, because of me we lost our reward. I should have been more careful." Natsu apologized sincerely.

"No I'm the one who should apologize, Natsu" Lucy replied, going down to her ankles, "I'm just a bit frustrated that after all that work I won't be even able to pay one month's worth of rent…" Lucy confessed. Natsu nodded sympathetically, then back-tracked.

"What? Your rent? I thought you were worrying about the tower!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Huh? Well that too, but my half of the reward would have been at least worth 3 months of rent." Lucy explained. Suddenly Natsu looked like he drifted off into space. He began to trace his fingers as if counting everything that he would've bought on them. Suddenly his eyes started spinning.

"All those numbers are hurting my brain!" Natsu yelled, clutching his head. Lucy looked at Natsu for a moment and then began laughing. "What's so funny?" Natsu asked.

"No, it's nothing." Lucy answered, giggles subsiding. "I'm just glad your okay. Thanks for your hard work in there, Natsu." Lucy said softly with a sweet smile. It caused Natsu to blush a little.

"It's nothing, don't mention it!" he said, waving Lucy off. "And it wasn't me alone in there, you were there too!" Natsu said and gave one of his ear-to-ear grins.

"Oi, don't forget me!" Happy flew up to them. "Together, we're the most powerful team!" Happy said excitedly. Lucy laughed a bit. Lucy glanced at Lisanna, who was glaring back at her. The latter turned on her heel and walked away.

* * *

'How? WHY?!' Lisanna shouted in her head while she ran towards her hotel, tears flying of her face. "When did they get so close? The aura they have around them when they are together, it's impenetrable! It's like the two of them are in their own little world, and I'm…I'm can't break into it all!' Lisanna thought frustrated.

"Miss Lisanna" a voice pulled Lisanna out of her deep thoughts. She stopped and saw that there was a female who stood against the wall. She wore a cloak which covered her face.

"Who are you?" Lisanna thoughts, she took up her guard.

"Do not be afraid," the young women said, "I'm a friend." She assured Lisanna. "And I can help you get what you want most, I can help you extinguish their flame before it ignites into something more."

'_Extinguish the flame?'_ Lisanna thought, it sounded familiar to her, then the fortune she got in Freesia Town echoed through her head.

'_The light of one flame will be burnt out by the blaze of a new ember.' _

'_Does that mean that Lucy's the flame and I'm the ember?'_ Lisanna wondered. _'But then, this woman, how did she know?' _Lisanna looked over to where the woman was standing but saw that she was no longer there. The Lisanna heard the voice of the woman echoing inside her head, and listened to the task she was given. The woman's voice disappeared and Lisanna stood there staring off into space, until another painfully familiar voice broke her out of her trance.

"Lisanna, where are you going?" Lucy asked, running up to her.

"What's it to you?" Lisanna snapped. She saw Natsu and Happy coming up to her as well.

"Oi Lisanna, don't be like that. After what happened tonight we're just a bit scared that somebody might take you again."

"Don't be ridiculous. All the late-night perverts are captured, and like I said; I got kidnapped on purpose. I can fend for myself when I need to!" Lisanna assured them. Natsu and Lisanna exchanged uneasy glances. She didn't have time for this, so Lisanna turned on her heel to leave.

"Wait Lisanna! You should come back to Fairy Tail with us tomorrow" Natsu suggested.

I have to tell you though that I'm going to take the first train that leaves tomorrow" Lisanna told them.

"Eh? But that's so early…" Natsu complained.

"You don't need to go with me. For the zillionth time, I'll be fine on my own!" Lisanna told them.

"Come on Natsu, we'll get plenty of rest when we return to the guild. Besides, if we don't leave at least that early tomorrow then the town's going to be after your head for revenge over the clock tower!" Lucy explained to Natsu. Natsu made a scary expression just imagining what the angry mob would do to him. He nodded vigorously at Lucy. Alright, we'll see you then." Lucy told Lisanna. Lisanna mutely nodded in return and left.

'_Again, you're looking down on me.' _Lisanna thought bitterly_.' It won't last long though. Your days are numbered, Lucy Heartfilia. Your next mission will be your last…'_

* * *

**A/N:** There you have it! My exams are starting next week, but i'll still see if I can slip in a few chapters for my readers! Thank you for all your support and the guest readers too! I would love to hear your voices, too! Oh look at the time...I should go and STUDY!  
See ya guys in the next one!_  
To be continued in Arc 2, Chapter 8!_


	8. An Odd Request

**Disclaimer:** I do not, have not and will never (probably) own Fairy Tail. It belongs to Hiro Mashima!

**A/N:** Here is the first chapter of the second arc of Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained! (Sorry for the delay, I'm busy with final examinations; you know how it goes…)

**ENJOY!  
**

* * *

_Arc 2; Black Heart  
Chapter 8. An Odd Request_

"Lucy…" A soft and almost annoyingly sweet voice woke Lucy from her sleep. She turned on her side, trying to shut the voice out, but alas it was to no avail. "Lucy…" The voice whispered again. The one the voice belonged to played with Lucy's tresses. Lucy groaned and said it's too early in the morning for that kind of stuff. She glared over her shoulder. What she saw pulled her back from dreamland with great force.

She was staring into the beautiful golden eyes of her lion spirit, Loke, their noses were inches apart.

"What the hell are you doing, Loke?!" Lucy asked loudly and Lucy-kicked him out of the bed.

"Aw Lucy, you looked so beautiful when you were sleeping peacefully that I just couldn't help myself" Loke apologized, but he hardly sounded sincere.

"But why would you come here while I'm sleeping? Surely you have more important things to do!" Lucy snapped, covering herself with her bed cover.

"Actually, princess, _we_ have more important things to do." Another voice said, coming into the room. It was Virgo. She was holding a tray with food on it and what looked like special celestial clothing draped over her arm. 'Just like a true maid…' Lucy thought as she looked at Virgo.

"We have important things to do? Like what?" Lucy asked as Virgo sat the tray of food in front of her.

"About your last request of Crux, about the 'Blue Flame'…" Virgo started and Lucy nodded. Crux knew nothing about it so she requested him to go and find out more about it. "Well he couldn't find anything in the Heaven's Archives, so he consulted the Celestial King. The Celestial King claims that he knows about it, and he wishes to see you." Virgo added, handing the Celestial garments to Lucy.

"The Celestial King…wants to see me?" Lucy asked disbelieving as she took the pieces of cloth.

"Yes, we sent Loke to bring you, but he was taking too long so I came too." Virgo said. Loke's eyes widened and fell deadly silent.

"Loke?" Lucy began sweetly, too sweetly, "How long have you been 'holding me company'?" she asked. Loke sweat dropped. He was caught red-handed.

"Um…I was here since about 3 a.m. maybe?" Loke admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his back. Lucy looked over at her window.' Judging from the sun's light shining through the curtain and the warm

glow that it's over my room, I had to say that it's now about...' Lucy thought and she shifted her gaze to her alarm clock and saw that it was 8 a.m.

"I was right! That means that you were here for at least 5 hours!" Lucy said angrily.

"Now now Lucy, no need to get to get angry. We can't keep the Celestial King waiting after all" Loke held fast.

"I'm going to keep him waiting? What about you? You're the one who was just lying around here doing nothing for 5 hours…" Lucy pointed out.

"Princess, we can continue this in the Celestial World, for now, please change so that we can leave" Virgo interrupted the argument before began going around in circles.

"Fine! But keep that perverted feline on a leash until I'm done changing or get ready for punishment" Lucy ordered as she went into the bathroom. Virgo curtseyed and shot a deathly glare over at Loke, who cowered underneath it.

"Then I'll go on ahead and prepare everyone for Lucy's visit!" Loke said nervously and disappeared.

After Lucy freshened up, she grabbed her bag and went outside. The Virgo and Lucy disappeared in a brilliant flash of light, onwards to the Celestial World.

_An Hour Later…_

A familiar blue cat knocked on the window a few times, but no answer came. He decided to push the window open. The window was unlocked, but it only opened up a bit. Because of the fish he ate that morning, his tummy was to big and he couldn't fit through the hole so he got stuck.

"LUCY!" the voice which could only belong to Happy called. Still there came no answer. Happy twisted and turned until he finally made it into the apartment.

He noticed the half-eaten breakfast on the bed and saw pajamas lying in the laundry basket, but no Lucy.

'_This is bad…'_ Happy thought to himself. _'I wanted to warn Lucy about a strange request that came in at the guild, but now she's not here'_ Happy flew to the kitchen and went over to kitchen. _'Where could she be?'_ Happy wondered as he began to absent mindedly chew on a piece of fish. While he ate he noticed a note on the counter. He picked it up and began reading it.

"_To Happy and Natsu who probably broke into my apartment _

_Please don't worry about me not being here. _

_I've gone on a trip to the Celestial World, but I should be back by tomorrow._

_Love, Lucy" _

"Oh, sounds like fun…." Happy said aloud and started imaging large fish spirits and how yummy they would taste. "Wait!" Happy suddenly exclaimed. "If she's not here, who's going to go on with Lisanna?" he asked worriedly.

"NATSU!" Happy yelled and stormed out through the window, towards Fairy Tail.

* * *

_Soaring high in the sky, the wind brushed through his hair. When he stretched out his hands he could touch the clouds. It was cold, and moist. The familiar sensation of being suspended flushed through his heart. Yes, he was flying. He looked to the sides and saw giant red wings flapping, effortlessly defying gravity. He looked down and stroked the scaly skin. It felt warm, the same heat he felt so long ago._

_'Igneel?' Natsu called. No answer. He wanted to call out again but a great gust of wind blew him of balance. Natsu tried to regain his grip on the hard scales, but he only grabbed air. He was falling. 'Igneel!' Natsu shouted again, but the silhouette of his further went further and further into the distance. 'Don't let me fall…' Natsu yelled desperately._

_Slowly the ground approached Natsu. Natsu looked back desperately and saw that Igneel was about to disappear when…_

"…tsu! Natsu, wake up!" Happy ordered, shaking the snoring dragon slayer.

"No, COME BACK!" Natsu yelled, bolting upright, his hand stretched out in front of him. He saw the troubled expression of Happy and felt that something was amiss. "Happy? What's wrong?" Natsu asked.

"Natsu, it's terrible! Lucy disappeared!" Happy cried. 'Lucy…?' Natsu thought. Now that he actually paid attention, he saw that he had fallen asleep on the bar counter and that his favorite cushion was missing.

"Disappeared? Where'd she go?" Natsu wanted to know, confused. Lucy never left. The last time she left, she left a note, Natsu thought that this time…"Happy, did she leave a note?" Natsu asked.

"Aye…" Happy answered with a nod and handed Natsu the note. Natsu took it hastily and scanned it once. The intro amused Natsu, but the words that really caught his attention were the words 'Celestial World' and 'Tomorrow'.

"Damn, this is bad. Why did Lucy have to go away now when someone hugely important requested for her?" Natsu wondered out loud.

At that moment Master Makarov, accompanied by Lisanna and one of the young women they saved in Akai Tsuki, emerged from his office. The young woman had the palest blue eyes and soft, coiled blonde hair. Natsu could tell from the air of importance around her that she was probably a rich snob, but he held that comment to himself. Her frilly white and blue summer dress flowed in the wind and hugged her knees.

"Happy, did you fetch Lucy as we requested?" Gramps Makarov inquired. Natsu looked at Happy and saw that he was thinking hard about how to break the news to the master.

"Actually, about that…" Happy started with a nervous laugh "I went to her apartment but only found this there, and no Lucy!" Happy explained and plucked the note from Natsu's hand. He flew over to Gramps and handed it to him. Makarov looked over it once and let out a sigh.

"This is most troublesome" Gramps concluded. He turned his attention towards the young heiress and Lisanna. "Azure-san, unfortunately the mage you requested is unavailable as of this moment" Gramps said regrettably.

"Oh, so they will not be together? It's truly a shame" the young heiress, Azure, said sadly. Natsu couldn't help but perk up his ears and listen in on their conversation.

"Oh don't worry about it, according to this letter, she will return tomorrow." Gramps assured her.

"But I wished for them, for her and Lisanna, to start their investigation today." Azure admitted. Natsu wondered why the woman was so adamant at having Lucy join them.

"I can still start today." Lisanna popped up. Natsu could understand that Lisanna would feel that way, but he felt that it could be too dangerous.

"I'm afraid it's too dangerous for a young woman such as you to embark on this mission alone." Azure shared Natsu's sentiment. Before Lisanna could protest, Gramps interrupted her.

"It's true Lisanna" He said. "What to do now?" he wondered. They were all silent for a moment until Lisanna thought of an idea.

"What about Natsu?" Lisanna began. Natsu raised his eyebrows in surprise. He remembered that they were always a team when they were kids, but now it doesn't feel the same anymore. "He could go with me on this mission. After all, he was with us in Akai Tsuki and he defeated most of the bad guys, he could definitely be of use!" Lisanna suggested excitedly. Gramps seemed to like the idea but Azure pondered over it for a second. She nodded when she made her decision.

"Alright, I will accept your proposal but on one condition. Miss Lucy is to join you as soon as she returns. She is a vital part needed for the success of this mission." Azure stated. Gramps looked at Lisanna for confirmation and she nodded reluctantly.

"Natsu, get your lazy ass over here!" Gramps ordered. Natsu dragged himself over to the guild master. "You are to go with Lisanna on her mission until Lucy returns. Afterwards, you may choose to stay or to complete the mission." Gramps stated. Natsu blinked a few times as if trying to comprehend the idea of abandoning his mission.

"Who do you think you're talking too, Gramps? I neither back down from a request nor do I ever leave half-way through! I'm in!" Natsu agreed, despite having had a feeling in his left butt-cheek that told him that this mission was probably a bad idea.

* * *

**September 9, X791 **

_Dear Diary,_

_They're always looking down on me. Is it because I'm a woman that they're underestimating me? Damn them to hell. _

_Mira-nee drilled the confidence of a Fairy Tail mage into me ever since I could use magic. She told me never to let anyone undermine my abilities. It's because I worked hard that I could do a full-body Take Over by the age of 10! _

_And yet, it feels as if it was all for naught. I was transported into a distant world, away from the Fairy Tail that I knew. I was so completely alone, so afraid. And that was when I met the new Fairy Tail. They were all different, yet their essence was the same. I had a sister and brother again. I believed that I could live my life there._

_If just any member of Earth land-Fairy Tail had found me, it would have been different. But the one who found me was Natsu…I was overjoyed yet at the same time confused. I was torn between the love I had for my Edo-siblings and the love I had for the Earth land-Fairy Tail that had become only a fragment of my memory._

_When all the magic form Edolas returned to Earth land, I was included. Again, my whole world changed and I had to adapt to a changed yet still the same Fairy Tail. _

_This time though, I won't just suddenly disappear again. I know what I want from the world I'm in. There is only one thing I need, excluding my siblings. His name is Natsu. I'm determined to get together with him. There is just one teeny tiny thing I didn't account for. That Natsu might have met someone else while I was away. And he did. Her name is Lucy Heartfilia. _

_I won't just give up and roll over though, I still believe that I'm the one for Natsu, and he knows it too. He just needs to realize that Lucy's a replacement for me. Once we get that, and Lucy, out-of-the-way for good, our true lives can start together. That is what I'm trying to achieve by co-operating with Azure. She promised me that my fortune would come true, that I would get back together with Natsu. And I believe her. Lucy's days as the nr 1 in Natsu's heart are numbered… _

* * *

**A/N:** Yippee! Thank you for supporting my story! For all of you Lisanna haters out there, hold on to your seat belts because in this arc, I'm going to send your Lisanna hater-meter through the roof! [I won't kill her off though; I'm unfortunately not that kind of author. The worst that will happen is I'll turn her into a stone penguin which will be used as target practice for paintball ;)]. See you in the next one!

_To be continued in Chapter 9_


	9. Suspicions & Wonders

**Disclaimer: **Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

**ENJOY!**

* * *

_Chapter 9 Suspicions & Wonders_

'_Ugh, I'm gonna die!'_ Natsu thought as he fell out the carriage. _'Why do I get this stupid sickness? I'm definitely stronger than transportation!"_ Natsu thought miserably as he held the carriage for support. "Carriages, trains, boats…they're my worst enemies" Natsu mumbled as he weakly glared at the carriage.

"Natsu, come on, the heiress of that important mine is already waiting for us!" Happy said, flying up to Natsu.

"Huh…?" Natsu responded as he noticed his surroundings for the first time. The carriage had stopped in front of a big white building which stood at the bottom of a big mountain. In front of it was a lawn of vibrant green grass which stretched all the way to the main road far below. Rows of trees aligned the main road on both sides_. 'Weren't we going to the mine?'_ Natsu wondered as he drank in his surroundings.

"Natsu, over here!" he heard Lisanna cal. He looked up and saw that she was standing on top of the unnecessarily huge flight of stairs.

Natsu dragged himself up the stairs. Happy flew to Lisanna's side and chattered away as Lisanna sweetly smiled at him. A wave of nostalgia flowed over Natsu as he saw Happy and Lisanna next to each other. He didn't know why though, but he felt something was missing in the picture in front of him.

"Hey Lisanna, weren't we suppose to go to a mine?" Natsu asked as he came up to her and Happy.

"Yeah we still are, but we first have to get our briefing here at Sphinx's HQ" Lisanna said as she pushed open the large oak doors. She walked in, followed by Natsu and Happy.

"Welcome" a fair womanly voice greeted them as they entered. Natsu looked to his right and saw a bespectacled woman approach them.

"Hi, we have an appointment with Azure-san" Lisanna said as Happy and Natsu stared in awe at the high ceiling and crystal chandelier that hung down from it.

"Of course, I'll take you to the meeting place" The woman said as she signaled with her hand towards a door at the opposite side of the room. Lisanna went after her but Natsu and Happy was still gazing at the roof. Lisanna sighed and headed back towards them.

"If you stare at the roof too much it's going to fall" Lisanna said half-jokingly. It managed to get their attention though.

"What's up with that?" Natsu laughed as he averted his gaze from the roof to her. Happy, most upset at the thought of the roof coming down on him, went to hide behind Natsu's soldier.

"I just wanted to get your attention" Lisanna laughed in return. "Come on, Miss Azure is waiting for us." Lisanna said, but as she turned away Natsu caught her shoulder. Lisanna looked over her it, surprised.

"Wait Lisanna, I have a bad feeling about this mission…" Natsu whispered, suspicious of his surroundings

"Natsu, don't worry about it. She's a good person." Lisanna tried to assure him, but Natsu look unconvinced. "We can't back out now anyway, we already accepted." Lisanna pointed out.

"Just be careful, alright?" Natsu said with a sigh. Lisanna responded with a laugh.

"I could say the same thing to you" Lisanna quipped with a wink and headed towards their meeting place.

"What's wrong Natsu?" Happy asked.

"I feel something's fishing about this mission," Natsu answered.

"Oh sorry, I guess I shouldn't have eaten that tuna this morning…" Happy apologized, rubbing his tummy.

"Yeah...wait, tuna? I thought it was salmon" Natsu recalled as he headed towards their meeting place.

"I ate salmon too, but I was still hungry. There was no more food at the guild so I went to Lucy's apartment, but the only things there were old milk and tuna. The tuna already expired but I was hungry so I ate in any way" Happy told him.

"Be glad Lucy wasn't there because she would've said something like 'you're disgusting Happy, get out!'" Natsu said while mimicking Lucy's voice.

"That was so genius, Natsu!" Happy laughed as they entered the room. Inside Lisanna and Azure were already sitting at her desk and chatting up a storm. Natsu narrowed his eyes in suspicion but didn't say anything.

"Welcome gentlemen, have a seat." The young heiress said as she pointed towards the empty chair in front of her desk. Natsu went to sit next to Lisanna while Happy settled for lying down on Natsu's head. "I was just telling Miss Lisanna how happy I was for your coöperation. Now, about the mission…"

* * *

"This is amazing!" Lucy exclaimed as she, Loke and Virgo soared through the heavens of the Celestial World in the Stella-train. The Stella-train was a convertible bus which moved on star-power. It moved swiftly past many of the small planets and the thousands of stars which lit up the night sky. "It's unbelievable, but there's even more Celestial Spirits than last time I was here!" Lucy said surprised.

"Of course, Lucy; last time you were here only your spirits were here to see you and a bunch of onlookers who wanted free food. The Celestial World has as much spirits as there are stars in the heavens." Loke declared dramatically.

"Is that so?" Lucy asked as she raised an eyebrow. "I find that difficult to comprehend" Lucy said as she stared up into the sky. Then she saw something she didn't want to see. Right above sea covered an entire planet, and there was only one island on it. Aquarius just had to pick that one island as the place to tightly embrace Scorpio. Lucy blushed furiously and looked away from them.

"If you're that excited, Lucy than we can do it too, you know…" Loke started with his arms held out but it was immediately met with rejection when Lucy Lucy-kicked him in the face. Lucy though put too much force into it and Loke fell over the edge of the bus.

"Loke!" Lucy shouted as she went to the edge of the bus and peered over it.

"Aw, so Lucy does care for me?" Loke said teasingly as he held on to the string of a giant air balloon. It moved thanks to its rotors. He floated up to meet Lucy in the eyes. Lucy gave an angry pout.

"I hope that balloon pops and you fall for all eternity!" Lucy said loudly. Loke made a hurt expression and grabbed his heart as if he was going to die from the emotional shock. He but Lucy just turned away with her arms crossed. "Seriously, what's with these spirits?" Lucy wondered to herself. Virgo said something about punishment but Lucy just waved it off.

"Expected their behavior are, Lucy-sama." A deep voice said from behind Lucy. Lucy looked over and smiled when she saw who it was.

"It's good to see you again, Capricorn!" Lucy greeted happily. Capricorn bowed in reply.

"Please forgive these spirits. They're excited that you have come to their world, and not the other way around." Capricorn explained. Lucy nodded in understanding.

"But I can't stay here for long, I only have sixteen minutes, and I don't how much time has passed already…"

"5 minutes, princess" Virgo answered factually.

"What, already? Then we have no time to lose!" she said after regaining her composure

"The Celestial King is ready to see you at any moment. His planet is up ahead" Capricorn informed her with a bow. Lucy nodded in approval._ 'It is almost time…'_

* * *

"We've arrived" Azure said as they reached basement of the building where an old man was waiting for them.

"Thank you; we know what to do from here. Right, Natsu?" Lisanna asked but saw that Natsu was poking the old man while Happy just stared at him. "Natsu, what are you doing?" Lisanna questioned him.

"I'm checking to see if this old man's still breathing" Natsu answered plainly.

"Yeah, he still is, but it's a bit wheezy…" Happy commented as well. Lisanna face palmed.

"I'm counting on you to take care of the criminals that disturbed this mine" Miss Azure reminded Lisanna sternly.

"Yes, leave it to us" Lisanna said sheepishly as she bow. Miss Azure nodded doubtfully, as if she wondered if she made the right choice in hiring wizards from the most troublesome guild in Earth Land. Lisanna didn't blame her though.

"Who is this guy anyway?" Natsu's voice pulled Lisanna out of her thoughts.

"Jeez, Natsu, don't you ever pay attention? He's our tour guide for the mine!" Happy answered him, half-rebuking him.

"That's not right. I'm the one who will take you to the scene of the crime." The short and hunch-back old man stated with a coarse voice. Natsu and Happy jumped with surprise.

"Forget these two, Roshi-san" Lisanna insisted.

"It's alright, I've seen better days. Please, come this way" the old man said and went over to the steel-cage elevator. "Please, go ahead" he said as he opened the gate.

"Hmm? Were going down?" Natsu asked as they stepped into the elevator shaft and began going down.

"There are rocky underground tunnels which connects the main house with the mines" Lisanna explained.

"So the mine's are like under the main house? That's awesome!" Natsu exclaimed. They reached the bottom a moment later.

"Aye!" Happy agreed jubilantly.

'_Of course you would think so Natsu…'_ Lisanna thought as they began walking through the tunnels. Natsu and Happy chattered away excitedly about the mine. _'It's a good thing that Lucy will be joining us later on; it accelerates my plans greatly. You screwed up Lucy. You've left Natsu wide open for me to take now.'_ Lisanna thought with a smirk. She heard a grumble next to her and jumped from the fright.

"Water…" someone mumbled. The faint lights of the tunnel didn't do anything to light up the man's face, but Lisanna could make out his silhouette.

"What's wrong?" Natsu said as he stepped in next to Lisanna. A small flame Natsu created illuminated the man's face. The man's bruised and pale face showed signs of famine. "What happened to you?" Natsu asked.

"It's…guild…destroy..." the man tried to speak but he was getting horrible fits of coughing. He closed his eyes. Lisanna held her breath as she searched for the man's pulse. She gave a relieved sigh when she found it, but it was weak.

"This is worse than I thought" Lisanna said distressed.

"Unfortunately this is only the start." Roshi-san said glumly. "These mine workers have suffered ever since the attack." He informed them as he they approached the crime scene. "They had destroyed all our equipment, which caused a severe diminishing in work quality and efficiency" he explained as they arrived at a large room.

It was the workers' hall, where they processed the gold and molded it. The machines and work stations were all destroyed. Part of the roof had collapsed in so piles of rocks lay everywhere. Lisanna looked on in sympathy as the paramedics moved frantically in and out of the hall catering to the injured. She saw Natsu moving slowly to the wall. She looked over and saw it. It wasn't the char marks on the wall which showed the signs of a recent fire that caught his attention. The blood-smeared gashes in the wall weren't it either. No, it was what the carving in the wall that captured his attention. Carefully chipped away in the wall was the insignia of an unfamiliar guild. Lisanna stepped closer and took out a compact Lacrima camera.

"Our culprits are inviting us to come after them, how kind" Lisanna said sarcastically as she took a picture of the insignia. "I'll send this over to Fairy Tail to have it investigated."

"Have Lucy investigate it" Natsu said. Lisanna raised a questioning eyebrow. "She's good at this kind of stuff, right?" Natsu added.

"Yeah, she's supposed to join us anyway so she might as well" Lisanna agreed reluctantly. "But still, Lucy…" Lisanna snarled at the name as if it was a threatening animal.

* * *

"Achoo!" Lucy sneezed as they landed on the Celestial King's front doorstep, literally. Lucy looked up and stared in awe at the Celestial Kings' home. It was a giant, old castle floating through the heavens.

"How does it stay afloat like that?" Lucy wondered aloud. Loke smiled at Lucy's curiosity. He was glad that he could show her something which only a few Celestial Spirits have seen.

"It stays afloat like that thanks to the castle and two moons, Rai and Terra, having opposite magical qualities. Thus as they say, opposites attract and these three magnetically pull at each other, keeping them together." Loke explained proudly, and pointed to the two moons which shone in its full glory. It was only a little distance away and gave the castle a silver glow.

"Welcome spirits and friends" A butler-spirit greeted them. "The Celestial King has expected you." He bowed and turned to lead them into the castle.

Loke grinned as Lucy was once again awestruck by the massive size of the foyer, with its garnet floors and high ceiling.

"I wonder why I wasn't expecting the such a huge palace? The Celestial King is a giant after all" Lucy asked to no one in particular. The butler led them down a hall towards the Celestial Kings' throne room.

Lucy stared up amazed. Loke could understand why; _'How many chances do you get to see entire solar systems painted on the ceiling above your head? But this was no ordinary paint or painting. The paintings were in truth portals the Celestial King used if he needed go to a certain planet. He goes to the planet where it is on the painting and passes through it. Poof! He's in your world.'_ Loke thought to himself and when he looked up he saw that they had already reached the giant marble doors.

"The King will see you now" the butler said as he pushed open the large doors.

When they stepped inside the room, what Loke saw surprised him, even though he knew he should have expected it.

"Welcome!" The Celestial King's laughter boomed through the room. "Join us, friend of the Celestial Spirits!" he insisted as Loke saw the tables being loaded up with food. "No way…I'm sure I told him about the time limit" Loke said. Lucy narrowed her eyes and moved towards the King.

"As tempted as I am, Mustache Man, I didn't come here to party, I don't have three months to waste this time" Lucy said in a no-nonsense tone of voice. "You have some valuable information you'd like to share, right?" Lucy wanted to confirm.

"Yes I will tell you what I know. I just thought we might go hungry so I got us refreshments. All these spirits thought it was a party and came here for the free food" the King explained.

"I see" Lucy comprehended the reason for why it seemed so festive. _'Just like Fairy Tail…'_ Lucy mused. "Then, you can tell me about the Blue Flame I saw hat night?" Lucy asked. The King nodded invited her to sit with him on his giant flying carpet.

"That power is granted by the heavens when one's feelings are perfectly synchronized in a certain time of space." The King let the words sink in. Loke looked over to Lucy and saw her musing over the words. A certain phrase came to his mind; _'And so the plot thickens…'_

* * *

**A/N:** I finished with my mathematics exams (last one EVER) today, so to celebrate I'm going to update again!  
_Random citizen:_ "Wait, you mean you worked on your chapter when you were supposed to study?"  
_Me: _"What? Of course not! I would never…" (Whistles tune guiltily while walking away)  
Anyway...like, love? Review! (They make great early Christmas presents!) ;)

_To Be Continued in Chapter 10: Truth & Error_


	10. It's Not As Bad as It Looks

_**Disclaimer: **_Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima

**ENJOY!**

* * *

_Chapter 10 It's Not As Bad As It Looks (Formerly Truth & Error)_

"_That flame is a power granted from the heavens when the feelings of a dragon slayer are perfectly synchronized in a certain time of space." _

Lucy let the words sink in and thought it over for a bit.

_"_A power granted from the heavens, as in Celestial Magic?" Lucy wanted to confirm.

"Correct." The King nodded. Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. The only Celestial Magic Lucy knew of was that of the spirits, who each had their own unique magic, the Eclipse gate and Urano Metria.

"How did this Celestial Magic come to exist then?" Lucy wanted to know.

"It is a very rare Celestial Magic…" the king started. "Once every seven years the stars Orihime and Hikoboshi come together. When they meet, a great amount of Celestial Magic is released. Only the one who has found the one he truly loves will be able to tap into this vast amount of power." He elaborated.

"But how could Natsu know how to tap into that magic? He is a dragon slayer!" Lucy reminded the king.

"That is exactly why he can tap into the magic. A Dragon Slayer who has found the one he loves is able to subconsciously tap into this magic." the King answered patiently.

"All of this magic? What if he only scratched the surface of it?" Lucy asked. She recalled that night in Akai Tsuki. Natsu was upset upon losing Lisanna that he tapped into the power of the Blue Flame, but not a lot of it. The King opened his mouth to answer but before he could say anything, a bell went off.

"Princess" Virgo said, appearing next to Lucy. "Time is up, we have to go".

"What?" Lucy exclaimed as a magic portal seal opened up from beneath her.

"I can tell you two things now" The king said as Lucy started to disappear, "One; the amount of power the dragon slayer can tap into reflects the depth of the feelings he has for the one in question and two; I should warn you that once a dragon slayer has unleashed the full power of the Blue Flame, he and the one his flame burns for will be bound together by the stars for eternity"

'_Then that means…'_ Lucy thought "Wait, I still have more questions!" Lucy protested, but it was too late, she had already disappeared into the portal completely. As Lucy traveled through the space between worlds, she heard the voice of the Celestial King.

"May your path be guided by the stars, friend of the spirits"

And just like that, Lucy came crashing back into the real world, or more specifically, came crashing through a table in the Fairy Tail Guild Hall. The table collapsed in on Lucy; wood covered

everything except her one arm and leg. The sudden crash caused all activity in the guild to come to a drastic halt. No one expected someone to come falling out of the sky.

"What happened?" came various murmurs and whispers.

"Virgo!" Lucy shouted as she broke through, pieces of wood and splinters scattered everywhere.

"You called, Princess?" Virgo asked, appearing out of thin air once again.

"Yes I did! What was with that landing? Really, could you not have made my arrival seem a little more graceful?" Lucy questioned Virgo.

"Is it time for punishment, princess?" Virgo asked. Lucy clenched her fist as a vein appeared on her forehead. Before Lucy could reply to Virgo's inquiry, Master Makarov appeared.

"Welcome back, Lucy" he said. Activity in the guild resumed as normal when they saw that the excitement was over.

"Master…" Lucy quickly turned to face him. "I'm home" Lucy said "I'm sorry for leaving without notice" she added.

"Yes, that did cause a little trouble" Master said, although it didn't sound like he was really inconvenienced by her sudden disappearance.

"Did something happen while I was away?" Lucy wanted to know.

"Ah yeas, something did happen. One of the girls you saved at Akai Tsuki was Azure Sphinx, the heiress of the multi-jewel gold company Sphinx." He informed her casually.

"An heiress of Sphinx?" Lucy questioned. The company sounded familiar to her.

"That's right. Her mine was attacked recently and yesterday she came in and requested for you and Lisanna to go investigate and catch the perpetrators." He explained.

"Me and Lisanna?" Lucy repeated. She was starting to sound like a broken tape recorder.

"Ah but don't worry, Natsu went ahead with her."

"Natsu?" Lucy asked, surprised.

"Yes, you're supposed to join them now that you have returned" Master added.

"Then I'll leave immediately" Lucy said while turning.

"Before you go though, Lisanna and Natsu sent a picture they found of an unknown guild insignia for you to investigate." Master said, holding out a Lacrima Camera.

"Then I'll look this over and leave immediately" Lucy said, taking the little magic device.

"I am counting on you" Master said. Lucy nodded and left.

'_This is bad…if Lisanna and Natsu spend too much time together, then the depth of Natsu's feelings for her could deepen to a point where he will be able to draw on the full power of the blue flame, eternally binding them together'_ Lucy theorized as she worriedly dashed through the streets of Magnolia.

* * *

The smell of disinfectants filled Natsu's nostrils. Despite Natsu being outside the infirmary, the smells were still amazingly strong. He wanted to throw up, but he held himself in.

Normally he would only be in the infirmary when he or someone he knew was sick or injured. In this case it was Happy who was on the sick-bed. Natsu wanted to stay in the infirmary by his partner's side, but Lisanna quickly gave Natsu the order to stop lazing around and give fire to keep the infirmary warm. Natsu looked through the window and saw Lisanna placing a newly wet cloth on Happy's forehead.

'_Really, Happy's such an idiot…'_ Natsu thought while shaking his head before looking on pitifully _'he should have known that month old tuna was a tough opponent. Though, I can't really blame him, a hungry cat is a desperate cat…'_

Natsu saw how Lisanna began to absent mindedly stroke Happy's and played with his ears, twirling her finger around it. _'Lisanna's really amazing with animals…though Happy's not really a normal animal' _Natsu thought as he returned his attention to the burning firewood, of which the heat was sent into the infirmary by some weird device _'Happy likes Lisanna, but he's pretty close to Lucy too. Happy likes picking fights with Lucy, while he's friendlier with Lisanna'_ Natsu thought, his ears picked up Happy's content purrs.

Natsu looked back up through the window and his eyes met Lisanna's. Lisanna looked surprised when she saw Natsu looking at her, but gave him a smile. Natsu grinned in return and waved.

"Salamander-san!" a boy one or two years younger than Natsu came running up to him. Earlier on the boy babble something to Natsu being his inspiration and doing charity work to train fro something.

"Yo, what's up?" Natsu asked him.

"Hai, they need you to come and help with some heavy loading in the Workers' Hall, if you don't mind, please" the boy asked nervously. Natsu looked over at his fire. When he saw that the fire was still going strong, he looked up back at the boy.

"Sure thing, let's go" Natsu said with a nod. Together the two boys dashed away.

* * *

Happy purred contentedly as Lisanna twirled her fingers around his ears.

'_What would you make of this cute and defenseless Happy, Natsu?'_ Lisanna asked in her head and she looked up to where she expected Natsu to be playing with the fire. Instead, she caught him looking at her. Lisanna's heart skipped a beat. _'Did he hear what I was thinking?'_ Lisanna asked herself worriedly. _'Don't be ridiculous Lisanna, there's no way he could'_ Lisanna scolded herself and settled on giving Natsu her best 'sweet' smile. _'Probably…' _she added

Natsu grinned massively in return and Lisanna calmed down. She then saw one of the paramedic trainee's running up to Natsu and talking to him nervously. Natsu looked at the fire and back at the boy, nodding. Just like that the two dashed away.

"Lisanna" an imposing voice that Lisanna could only recognize as that of Azure, shook her out of her thoughts.

"Azure-san" Lisanna replied and gave a slight bow.

"I take it you have something good to report to me?" Azure asked knowingly as she scanned all the injured mine workers in the infirmary with her eyes.

"Yes" Lisanna affirmed and took out a folded-up paper from her shirts' breast pocket. "They attackers mostly targeted the machine used to create the gold bars and burned at least 75% of the usable tools, leaving nothing behind except scrap metal. The clothes they stripped of the mine workers and burned were mostly for show, while the walls and ceiling were collateral damage. Approximately 52 mine workers was injured. 15 of these workers are still in critical condition while the rest are helping cleaning up the workers hall" Lisanna finished with a large exhale.

"What about the amount of gold that was stolen?" Azure-san asked in a crisp tone that gave nothing away. But even that indifference seemed secretive to Lisanna.

"Confirmed as the amount that you predicted" Lisanna answered immediately. A satisfied smirk flashed across Azure's lips, but not fast enough for Lisanna to miss it.

"And your dragon friend, where is he?" Azure inquired, looking out the window at the fire.

"One of the paramedic-trainees; Joshua was his name I think, called him away. I think he went to help in the Workers Hall" Lisanna suspected.

"Then we are alone?" Azure asked somewhat quietly, looking sideways. Lisanna looked over her shoulder at a still-sleeping Happy. She turned her gaze towards Azure and nodded in confirmation. Azure's serious gaze deepened even more. "Fairy Tail had informed me that Lucy had returned. I expect her to arrive by sunset" She stated and Lisanna's eyes widened in surprise.

"By sunset? I thought that investigating the picture of the guild insignia I sent her would take longer" Lisanna brooded.

"Apparently she is a lot quicker than you had anticipated." Azure stated, composure never-failing. "Regardless, you know what your task is. You are ready to move at a moment's notice after she arrives, aren't you?" Azure asked in a no-nonsense manner.

"Uh…yes…" Lisanna said, though doubtfully.

"Lisanna, remember why you are doing this. It is merely a means to an end in the grander scale of the scheme. We cannot - no - we will not fail here" Azure proclaimed confidently.

"That's right," Lisanna started with a nod "I'm not just doing this for you. I have my own reasons for doing this as well." she reminded, although it was directed at Lisanna herself. Then, with new determination, she looked up at Azure. "Leave it to me!"

* * *

"Alright, that's the last of it" Joshua said. They had finished removing all the destroyed work stations and rocks, so the workers hall looked almost as good as new. New equipment was the only thing that was still needed.

"Phew, all done!" Natsu said as he wiped of the sweet from his brow. He had just finished heaving a wheelbarrow-full of rocks into a mine cart.

"Thanks for your hard work, Salamander-san" Joshua said. Natsu turned to answer him but as he did a familiar smell hit Natsu squarely in the face.

'_This is…'_ Natsu thought as he sniffed the air some more _'the same smell that surrounded that guild mark-carving on the wall. Does that mean…?' _Natsu thought as he suddenly turned to look behind him.

"Um…Salamander-san?" Joshua asked cautiously.

'_There's no doubt about it…this smell belongs to the same one who carved that guild insignia into the wall. He's back now!' _Natsu realized and turned to face Joshua again.

"I'm going to check something out, see you later young-paramedic-trainee!" Natsu called as he dashed off before Joshua could say anything. Joshua was only left in Natsu's dust.

"Right…see you later" Joshua said as waved Natsu off with a stiff hand, confused by the sudden change in his hero.

Natsu dashed through the mine shafts. He knew that the one who attacked the mine was around there somewhere. Natsu ran up and down the mine, but the one the smell belonged to managed to elude him.

Natsu didn't know when but he had lost track of time. Screw that, he never keeps track of time in the first place. But before he realized it, it was already dusk, so Natsu decided to head back to the infirmary.

* * *

"Welcome back, Natsu" Lisanna greeted when Natsu eventually arrived at the infirmary. The sun was setting in the horizon; yellow and red light fought for dominance over the thin streaks of clouds, bathing the room in a warm orange glow.

"I'm back, Lisanna. Hey, that sounded familiar, didn't it?" Natsu said with a laugh. Lisanna also smiled.

"Just like the time when we – you, me and Happy- stayed in that grass hut." Lisanna recalled. Her smile softened a bit. "Do you remember what I told you that one day?" Lisanna asked, breaking the silence that had settled over the room. Natsu's smile faltered a bit. It should have bothered Lisanna, but she continued regardless. "That someday I would become your wife…" Lisanna answered her own question. When Natsu still didn't reply, Lisanna decided to push it a little further "…and that Happy would be our child…"

"Speaking of Happy, how is he?" Natsu asked as he walked over to where Lisanna sat next to Happy's sickbed.

"His fever has gone down. It's a good thing I had the formula for an antidote, right?" Lisanna played along. Natsu's attempt to change the subject wasn't missed by her. "But Natsu, you do remember, don't you?" Lisanna asked with a now more strained smile.

"Of course, you just told me, right?" Natsu replied simply.

"Natsu, I'm serious! In was also serious in the past. We can still go back to the good old days!" Lisanna insisted, and in a moment of desperation she stood up and hugged Natsu.

"Hey Lisanna…" Natsu began gently; Lisanna looked up at him questioningly. "It's true that the old days were a ton a fun, but me…" Natsu paused for a moment, but it was enough time for Lisanna to make her move.

"No! I believe that we could make it work, and I'll prove it!" Lisanna declared as she grabbed Natsu by his collar. She quickly closed the distance between them and placed her lips against Natsu's.

Lisanna closed her eyes, she hoped that Natsu would do the same. But when she felt that Natsu wasn't reacting to her advance, Lisanna opened her eyes and saw Natsu's eyes were wide open. His hands were clenched around her wrist. Lisanna pulled back, but she didn't let go of his collar. Lisanna felt like she could cry. Natsu rejected her.

"I love you…" Lisanna whispered, she couldn't look Natsu in the eyes. She knew that with his super dragon hearing, he heard her Lisanna smiled cynically to herself. It's ironic; here she was, confident that she could win Natsu over, but the truth is she probably just lost him.

"Lisa…"

"Natsu?" a voice from behind them Natsu interrupted him.

Lisanna looked over Natsu's shoulder. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise. Natsu looked over his shoulder and saw that the one standing in the doorway had a pained expression on her face.*

"Lucy…" Natsu called out, letting go of Lisanna wrists. Lisanna did the same. 'Dammit, talk about bad timing…this probably looks worse than it is though.' Natsu thought.

Natsu turned to face her but as he did, the building, walls and windows alike, shook from the sudden impact of an unknown force. All of them were knocked off-balance.

"It's the criminal guild!" a mine worker came in yelling. "They have invaded the mine…!"

* * *

**A/N: **Customary shout out to all my supporters: Thank you so much, I love all of you! Leave me a comment if there's anything you liked/disliked.

_To Be Continued in Chapter 11_


	11. Within A Fading Conscience

**Disclaimer: **Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima._**  
**_

_**ENJOY!**_

* * *

_Chapter 11: From Within a Fading Conscience_

"..._the criminal guild!" a mine worker came in yelling. "They have invaded the mine…!" _

A huge explosion erupted from behind the mine worker as he ran into the infirmary. Pieces of the wall as well as the door were sent flying. Lucy's eyes widened in horror.

"Everyone, get down! It's Saber…KYA!" Lucy shouted as she ducked for cover when another shock wave was sent through the infirmary. Lisanna and Natsu, who had grabbed Happy, dived for cover behind the bed. A series of consecutive shock waves were sent through the infirmary, obliterating the opposite wall.

"What? 'Saber' as in Sabertooth?" Natsu asked with a dumbfounded expression.

"Such a naughty girl; revealing our identities so easily like that…" A mocking voice came from the rubble that had piled up at the entrance of the infirmary. When the smoke cleared, Lisanna, Lucy and Natsu were surprised when they could not recognize those who stood in the doorway.

"Who…are you people?" Natsu asked. The three of them stared Natsu and co. down.

'_Things just keep going from bad to worse…'_ Lucy thought in distress. _'I planned to warn Natsu and Lisanna about the newly formed Sabertooth, but I couldn't stomach interrupting their little 'moment' together' _Lucy thought bitterly as she glared over her shoulder at Natsu. _'That idiot…'_

"Kuroi" the man who Lucy suspected was the leader pulled her out of her thoughts. He looked like a rocker with his spiky maroon-colored hair and long purple coat with black high boots and thorn choker. "Get the girl" he ordered arrogantly. It pissed Lucy off, more than she already was.

"Roger, Kotone-dono" the tall man named Kuroi responded. His long black ponytail flailed in the wind as he launched himself forward, heading straight for Lucy.

* * *

"Like hell I'd let you take my comrade, bastard!" Natsu yelled when he came out of hiding. The tall and dark mage teleported away before Natsu could reach him.

"Nah-ah-ah" Kotone said deviously while wiggling his forefinger. He flexed that same finger and sent another shock wave towards Natsu. It destroyed the floor as it went along. Natsu dodged it in the nick of time.

"Damn, I got distracted…" Natsu reprimanded himself. "What the hell kind of magic is that?" he asked with a roar.

"I'd explain it, but I doubt if a simpleton like you would understand" Kotone said with a smirk. Natsu scowled in annoyance at his opponent. "Alright, alright" his opponent said while holding his hands up in mock surrender "I am a sound magician. I can take control of the sound waves in the air and convert them to shock waves and vibrations. In other words, I can use every sound you make to fulfill my every wish! Did you get all that?" he asked in a demeaning tone.

"Of course I did!" Natsu yelled defensively, eyebrows twitching. "It's a mystery power, right?" Kotone only laughed in response.

How about i just demonstrate it to you then, alright?" Kotone offered as he flexed the fingers he was holding up in the air. Two small magic seals appeared. He aimed the seals and locked on onto Natsu. "Bass Pulse!" he shouted and many small colored waves were shot out of the seals, and again Natsu had that feeling of impending doom rise from within in. Until he figured out the whole in Kotone's strategy, all he could do was run.

* * *

Lisanna didn't run though. Her opponent was the third mage; a small and disgusting monster-like creature. 'Bakemono' disappeared as soon as the starting bells were sounded though.

Lisanna looked around her cautiously, until she felt something stir in the ground beneath her. Lisanna used her Half-Take Over: Kangaroo-legs to jump out of the way, landing outside of the building. Where she landed though another whole opened up and Lisanna had to jump up again.

'_I see, a digging mage…'_ Lisanna surmised as she watched Bakemono form where she was hovering in the sky with her Half-Take Over: Bird-wings.

"If that's how you want to play then it's fine by me!"Lisanna shouted as she descended down onto Bakemono, who immediately retreated into one of his tunnels. _'Now's my chance!'_ Lisanna thought as she came closer to the hole. "Full Take-Over: Mole!" Lisanna yelled and immediately she transformed into a light-brown colored mole with funky glasses.

She dived into one of the holes and started digging her own tunnels. By feeling the vibrations in the ground, Lisanna could tell where her foe was and thus she knew the perfect place to launch her counter attack.

'_Now!'_ Lisanna burst through the wall of one of the tunnels. She had timed it incorrectly, though. Bakemono easily dodged and changed course by heading upwards. This continued on for quite some time, both trying to get the drop on the other but failing.

'_This is gonna take longer than I thought' _Lisanna realized as she dodged another one her foe's counter-attacks.

* * *

'_Dammit, I lost him…'_ Lucy thought in distress as she looked over her shoulder. She turned on her heel and looked the other way. She looked to her sides but saw nothing. As she glanced over her left shoulder before she caught the shadow of a movement in the corner of her right eye. _'Found you!'_ Lucy thought as she pointed her key in the direction of the movement.

"Open Gate of the Lion; Leo!" In an instant Loke appeared, looking dashing as always.

"You called for me, Lucy?" Loke asked coolly as he adjusted his sunglasses.

"You bet I did! My annoying opponent keeps running away…will you help me catch him please?" Lucy asked sweetly, which she knew was unnecessary. Loke would have accepted the task regardless.

"Leave it to me, Lucy!" Loke said as he suddenly turned around, facing Lucy. His arm was stretched-out over her shoulder. Lucy felt like she was temporarily frozen. She hadn't realized that Kuroi had sneaked up behind her, but Loke had and he was currently holding the teleportation mage by the throat. Lucy stood in between the two and felt like she could be smothered by their combined menacing aura.

"I can tell you're strong, but so am I. I am Leo the Lion; the fastest and most powerful of the twelve Zodiac spirits. You have met your match so you better be prepared!"what Loke said was not an empty threat. Kuroi merely smirked and teleported out of Loke's grip. Loke cursed under his breath and made a 180° turn. "And I'd never let you hurt my dearest!" Loke yelled determinedly, causing Lucy to face-palm.

_'Why'd he have to end his cool speech with something like that?'_ She looked through her fingers and saw that Loke was moving at an incredible speed, she could hardly keep up with her eyes. He disappeared and then when he reappeared he and Kuroi were punching, kicking or dodging each other before disappearing again.

Loke had activated his Regulus Fist and hit what looked like air with it, but his fist made contact and sent the other party flying and crashing into the trees outside.

_'Loke, he's serious, isn't he? Does he really see his opponent as that much of a threat? I'm worried…'_ Lucy thought uneasily.

* * *

Back underneath the ground, Lisanna had decided to focus on a new strategy. She created a network of tunnels at an astonishing speed. Lisanna dug until she came to a point where one of her tunnels intersected one of Bakemono.

'_Alright, this should do it'_ Lisanna retreated into her tunnel. She carefully felt the vibrations in the ground and waited. Lisanna didn't have to wait long though, soon she felt the familiar movements of her foe coming down in the tunnel parallel to Lisanna's own. _'He probably doesn't know that he had been caught in my web.' _Lisanna thought smugly. Then her eyes shone with a tinge of regret. _'I didn't want to do this, but it's the only way'_

At that thought Lisanna launched herself forward, attacking the unsuspecting creature.

"H-e-a-dbutt!" Lisanna yelled anticlimactically and tackled him into the tunnel wall. The force of the impact shook all the tunnels. Lisanna's web of tunnels weakened the grounds' structure, so everything caved in. Lisanna quickly retreated into the escape route she planned just for this moment.

* * *

Lucy felt the ground shaking beneath her.

"What's happening?" she started to lose her balance. "Is it an earthquake?"

"Watch out, it's dangerous Lucy!" Loke warned her.

"You shouldn't get distracted" Kuroi said coldly and used his kunai to jab Loke in his side. Pain shot through Loke's entire core. His vision was starting to go blurry.

"Loke!" Lucy shouted concernedly, staggering over to his side.

"I almost had him…just a little bit more…" Loke 's breathing became heavier.

"You're gonna be alright. I'll send you back now, okay?" Lucy hushed him softly

"I'm sorry…Lucy" Loke said with a sad smile as he disintegrated into tiny speckles of light.

"It's alright, don't worry about it" Lucy replied softly. She glared over to where Kuroi was standing in a launch-pose. He stared at Lucy as if she were his prey. "You're next!" Lucy said as she moved her hands to take another key form her belt. Only, Lucy only grabbed air. _'What, my keys are gone?'_ Lucy thought frantically.

Lucy looked over and saw that her keys lying in the rubble a few miles away. She realized that she must have dropped it when she came running to Loke's side. Lucy ran over to her it, but because something tripped her Lucy fell to the ground. A searing pain shit through her. Lucy bit on her lips to stop herself from screaming. _'My ankle, I can't move…'_

Immobilized, Lucy lied on the ground. When she looked up, she saw something next to her keys moving. A little animal popped its head out of the ground. _'A mole? No…that tacky sunglass can only belong to…'_

"Lisanna?" Lucy asked. The mole responded to the name and looked over at Lucy. "Hey, that's great! Could you please throw my keys over here?" Lucy called out to her. Lisanna looked over at the keys and back to Lucy. "I think I sprained my ankles, so I can't get in myself. Just throw it over here and I'll activate it!" Lucy elaborated. Still Lisanna didn't do anything. "You understand, don't you?" Lucy asked.

_'Something's wrong'_ Lucy suspected.

As if to confirm her suspicions, Lisanna grabbed onto the keys, but instead of chucking it over she held it to her chest and dived back into the ground.

"Wait, Lisanna!" Lucy called after her, but Lisanna didn't resurfaced.

When Lucy was suddenly yanked up by her arm, she felt that a raging pain erupted from her ankle. That, combined with the fact that her blood pressure had severely dropped from the shock of hurting her ankle, served nothing more than to make Lucy feel lightheaded.

From within her fading conscience, a mix of anger and sadness stirred Lucy's insides. _'Lisanna…she betrayed me, didn't she?'_ Lucy laughed cynically to herself. _'Of course she did, why wouldn't she? And Natsu…is Lisanna the one that you chose?'_ Lucy felt tears stinging her eyes. She looked over to Natsu. Her vision became blurry. She couldn't hear anything. It looked as if he was struggled against something while calling her name.

'_Oh Natsu…'_ Lucy thought as the last of her thoughts faded into the darkness.

* * *

"Lucy!" Natsu yelled as he saw her lifeless eyes stared at him. 'Don't go!' Natsu wanted to yell but nothing came out. Natsu grabbed his own throat before looking at the sound mage.

"I told you, didn't I?" he said as his finger radiated with magic energy, vibrating the air. "Every sound you make is mine for the taking. I can amplify, soften or even mute it completely" he said while smirking conceitedly.*

"I've taken your magic and your girl, I'm afraid your time to go has come!"

"Like hell I'd let someone like you help us to our graves!"

"What…?" Kotone's smile faded a bit as he furrowed his eyebrows. Natsu willed his body into moving again. Step by said he fought against the vibrations and closed in on his enemy.

"Someone like you wouldn't understand the value of life! My comrades have been there for me through thick and thin…." Natsu said angrily before raising his voice. "Their life is not yours to mess with!"

"Aren't you the poetic one" Kotone said sarcastically. Natsu ignored the snide remark and launched himself at his foe. He felt rage searing within him, roaring he released all his pent up feelings. He dealt a few devastating blows, breaking down his opponents inner and outer shell.

"Dragon Slayers Secret Art: Crimson Lotus Flame Blade!" Natsu circulated his arm and created a powerful torrent of flames and barraged his opponent with it. The sound mage let out a cry of pain before smashing against the wall, unconscious.

_'Lucy…'_ Natsu thought. _'I have to save her!'_ he thought desperately while breathing heavily.

"I have to find her" Natsu said determinedly.

"Natsu, wait a minute!" Lisanna called out to him, grabbing his arm. "We do not know where she went, she could be anywhere! And besides…we will have to take care of them first" she told Natsu as a group of Sabertooth lackeys surrounded them from all sides. Natsu only narrowed his eyes.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu shouted and breathed an amazing amount of fire. Every one of them was effectively knocked out. "Lisanna take care of them" Natsu yelled while he went back into the house.

"But Natsu…"

"I'll be back soon!" Natsu said with a wave.

'_Lucy…she's wearing that scent I got her in Freesia town. Alright, I'll be able to find her no time at all! Wait for me, Lucy! I'll be there soon!'_ Natsu thought as he headed for the basement.

* * *

'_What…where am I?'_ Lucy wondered dazedly. She lifted her heavy eyelids and gazed up. _'Who…?'_ Lucy wondered. She blinked a few times and her vision became more focused. Lucy was suddenly wide awake.

"Kuroi?!" Lucy exclaimed. She struggled to get loose but found herself to be bound with magic-sealing cuffs.

"Quiet, refrain from stirring up any trouble" Kuroi warned in his deep and silky voice. Lucy grimaced and looked at her immediate surroundings.

They were in some sort of weird tunnel. _'A dungeon?' _Lucy wondered.

"Where are you taking me? What is the meaning of this?!" Lucy demanded to know, but Kuroi only gave her a cold glance and stared in front of him again as he came to halt. Lucy followed his gaze. She knitted her eyebrows when she saw who was standing in front of her. Upon recognizing the person standing in front of her, Lucy's eyes lit up.

"Azure-san! I've never been so happy to see a familiar face! Could you please help me, I…" But Lucy saw that Azure didn't look happy to see her.

"She's here" was all Azure said.

"Just as we arranged" a sub-zero voice form behind her said before Lucy could voice her confusion. _'That familiarly low and derided tone could only belong to…'_ Lucy looked behind her and saw the last person she wanted to see at that moment.

Sting Eucliffe emerged from the shadows. Kuroi walked over to him and Lucy could feel shivers running up and down her spine. Sting had a revolting smile on his face. Kuroi set Lucy down on her feet.

"Come here" Sting ordered as he signaled her with his finger. When she refused to move, Kuroi shoved her and she staggered forward. Before she fell Sting caught her by her chin and forced her to look up at him. She shot him a full-fledged glare.  
"Oh, aren't we cheeky? But it's fine, I like feisty girls." Sting said and spun her around, pressing her cuffed hands against her back. He whispered lowly into her ear.  
"You're coming with me…"

* * *

"LUCY! Where are you?!" Natsu yelled as he ran down a strange dungeon. He sniffed the air some more.

_'Oh, Lucy!'_ Natsu thought excitedly as he found the source of the smell. Her scent still lingered in the air…but Lucy was nowhere to be found.

_'Damn, I just missed her!' _Natsu realized, the reality of the situation dawned on him. His Lucy was gone...

* * *

**A/N: **Is it going to snow here in the Saharan desert? I actually got more reviews this time! I am not sarcastic, I'm really grateful! Thanks for all of your support, and I'm sorry to have kept you waiting!  
Guest: I try to update at least once a week  
_To Be Continued in Chapter 12: Don't mind the details _


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